Lightning Strikes
by RLD Flame-point Callie-co
Summary: Primatech sends Elle to Forks to investigate the Cullens' abilities, and Edward finally meets someone outside his family who interests him. What kind of relationship can a vampire have with the Company girl whose job is to spy on and capture him?
1. Assignment

**Disclaimer: don't own Twilight or Heroes. Still. **

**Timeline: pre-Genesis in Heroes and during the first book of the Twilight Saga, except with Elle as the new girl in Forks instead of Bella. This story is completely unrelated to the R series, hence the lack of a single-word title beginning with R. Oh, and the Cullens don't put in an appearance till the very end of the chapter, sorry. It does get more interesting later. **

**Pairing(s): all canon apart from Edward/Elle. **

**Warnings: none.**

Chapter 1: Assignment

Elle Bishop hated mornings, because each and every one began with her waking up insanely early for yet another training session. She wouldn't mind so much if her training was all to do with honing her ability, which she actually enjoyed using - some would say she enjoyed it too much - but there were other things a Company girl was expected to do. This morning it was running laps in the facility's gym. She completed her usual twenty circuits, only for her trainer to bark out, "Now give me another ten."

Gritting her teeth, she forced her body back into motion. She had learned a long time ago that protesting her grueling training regimen did no good; besides, she was perfectly aware why she was being punished with extra laps. Two weeks ago she'd gone on her first assignment, and she had royally screwed it up. Everything had been fine while she was merely investigating the subject - in fact she'd done very well at getting close to him and gaining his trust - but when it came time to bring him in... Elle pumped her legs faster, letting the rhythm of her strides drown out the memory. If it hadn't been for Bennet she would have died that night; instead she had to live with everyone knowing what a failure her first mission had been. She slowed to a walk and headed for the doors.

"Hey, that wasn't ten laps! It wasn't even one! Get back here, Bishop!" Elle kept going. "I said, _**get back here**_."

Against her will, Elle felt her feet freeze. She rejoined her trainer, fighting her body's involuntary movements every step of the way.

"Where the hell did you think you were going?"

"What's the point of me training anymore, Eden?" Elle countered. "We both know I'm benched for the next decade!"

Eden shrugged. "A decade doesn't last forever. Anyway, my orders are to keep training you just in case the guys upstairs change their minds. Now, _**start running**_."

Elle sighed; she was used to following orders, but she hated Eden compelling her to do so.

_Primatech's executive offices_

While she argued with Eden over the usefulness of continuing her training, Elle's name had just come up in a meeting of the Company's top brass. "Absolutely not," Bob Bishop said heatedly. "My daughter isn't ready for this kind of assignment! Don't you remember what happened last time, Charles?"

Charles Deveaux coughed and shifted to sit straighter in his wheelchair. "I remember," he began hoarsely; he paused to clear his throat before continuing. "I remember that her undercover work was exceptional, and we need an undercover agent to integrate into these suspects' lives, make sure of exactly what we're dealing with before we send in a bag and tag team. Your daughter's perfect for the role of high school student."

"Charles is right," agreed Angela Petrelli. "Who better to play that part than a sixteen-year-old girl who should actually _be_ in high school? Give her a chance, Bob. This has the potential to turn into a long-term deal - whoever we put on it might be unavailable for weeks before getting any results. Why should we send one of our better agents when we can use Elle? We don't need her for anything important."

Bob started to argue, but Daniel Linderman cut across him. "Excellent point. Arthur, what do you think?"

Everyone turned to hear what he would say; as the most powerful man in the room, it was tacitly acknowledged that Arthur Petrelli's word would be the final one on the matter. "Send the girl in, but have Parkman prepare her first. And send someone more experienced to supervise her - Thompson, maybe."

###

The next morning when Elle entered the gym, her father, Bennet, and Maury Parkman were waiting for her instead of Eden. "What's up? Surprise party?"

Bob frowned at her joke. "No, Elle, we have a new assignment for you."

"You do? But...I thought..."

"Your primary function this time will be undercover work. You're going to get close to our subjects - just not as close as last time."

"So no action then." So much for getting off the hook quickly; undercover work was barely better than being benched.

Bennet stepped forward. "It'll be harder than you think. We have no idea what these people can do - they could be very dangerous, or they could be able to get inside your head. You're going to have to spend lots of time around them in a completely different setting than what you're used to, and even your thoughts might not be safe."

Elle stared in disbelief. True, for all intents and purposes the Company already told her what to think, but not _literally_. "How am I supposed to control what I _think_ about?"

"Maury's here to help you with that."

"Just relax; this won't hurt a bit unless you fight it." The overweight telepath took Elle's face between his hands, using eye contact to penetrate her mind more easily. Once inside, he set up an advanced compartmentalization system in Elle's brain - while switched off she would be unable to say anything that would blow her cover or compromise Company security, and no telepath would be able to hear it in her thoughts. He also tuned her mind to respond to a keyword that would allow her to speak freely so she could report to Thompson.

"Don't worry, Elle," Bennet soothed her, "this is just a temporary measure. Someday you'll have the self-control to do this without Maury's help. Until then, just think of it as a strictly-enforced gag order."

Bob said sharply, "She can handle it, Noah. If Elle's ever going to make a good agent she'll have to get used to the way things are done around here. Elle, go pack your bags; your flight leaves this afternoon."

"You got it, Daddy."

"Oh, and Elle? Remember that you _will_ have to comply with a high school dress code."

Elle scowled. This could put a cramp in her style.

_SeaTac Airport_

Thompson was waiting for her when she disembarked. "This here is your new best friend." He handed her a pastel purple umbrella. "I know how you hate to get wet."

Elle cast an apprehensive glance at the sky, or rather the solid gray cloud mass filling the sky. "Is it like this all the time here?"

"Pretty much - one of the rainiest towns in the country. Now, the town where you'll be matriculating is a little short on real estate, so you're going to have to commute to school. That's not a problem, is it?" He paused just long enough for Elle to give the barest shake of her head. "If anyone asks about your living situation-"

"-I'll tell them it's because you just took a job as manager at the Primatech warehouse in Port Angeles."

"Good girl." Thompson escorted Elle to their waiting Primatech van, assuring her that he'd already rented something less conspicuous for her to drive to school, and drove to a small apartment building in Port Angeles.

"Aren't there rooms we could use at the 'warehouse'? It's not like they really need all that space for manufacturing paper."

"The apartment's for appearances, in case you ever have to bring friends home."

_Friends? I actually have to make friends with the student body?_

Thompson guessed Elle's thoughts from her incredulous and slightly disgusted expression. "You're there to blend in," he reminded her. "It would look odd if you don't associate with anyone except your targets. It also goes without saying that you aren't allowed to zap anybody." Watching the blonde from the corner of his eye, he could swear she honestly looked disappointed. She crossed her arms, leaned on her door, and refused to speak for the remainder of the drive.

Her sulkiness lifted slightly when they reached their apartment; she couldn't help being pleased about staying somewhere that wasn't a facility. "I don't have to bunk with you, do I?"

"No, this room is all yours. Like it?"

Elle sat on the mattress's edge, bouncing experimentally, and declared it acceptable.

"Good. I want you to get a good night's sleep - have to be sharp for your first day tomorrow."

###

Despite driving slowly along the wet roads, Elle would have missed her destination if not for the sign designating it as Forks High School. She turned her forest-camouflage-green Subaru into the parking lot, picked a space, and sat gazing dubiously at the cluster of maroon brick buildings. So this was an American high school, was it? It looked more like a collection of residential houses - not at all what she'd expected. _Then again, I've never actually seen one of these places before. Maybe they're all like this. _

She flipped up the hood of her raincoat and dashed for the administration building. "Hi-" she checked the secretary's nameplate "-Mrs. Cope. I'm-"

"Elle Bishop, yes, we've been expecting you. I've got your schedule right here, and a map of the school. Get all your teachers to sign this slip and bring it back to me at the end of the day, all right?" She handed the papers to Elle, who decided right then that school was more trouble than it was worth. "You have a good first day, sweetie."

Elle's fingers twitched, itching to zap the motherly smile off Mrs. Cope's soft, slightly pudgy face. She suppressed the urge and gave a smile of her own instead. "Oh I'm sure I will." She sashayed off to first period English, drawing curious glances due partially to her new-girl-ness, but mostly because of her knee-length raincoat's vivid lavender shade, her unwillingness to lower the hood although it was barely drizzling, and her diligent avoidance of every single puddle.

In class she was ambushed by a gangly, black-haired, oily-skinned boy who introduced himself as Eric Yorkie and promptly began offering advice on everything from navigating Forks High to what not to take in the lunch line. Elle found his enthusiasm irritating but realized his overly helpful tendencies could be useful. "Sure, Eric, I'd be glad to let you show me around sometime," she purred, making him gulp. _Note to self: find female friends ASAP. I do _not_ want to have to use the seduction act on this guy!_

The class itself seemed easy; Elle had at some point borrowed everything on the reading list from the Hartsdale facility's library to keep occupied between training sessions and playing with Level Five inmates. She didn't have the same advantage in Spanish, trigonometry, government, or biology, but that didn't worry her as she saw little point in those classes anyway. Come to think of it, there wasn't much point in studying English either - who cared what a bunch of old dead guys had written centuries ago? She wouldn't have read that crap if she'd had anything better to do. Gym at least would be a breeze, thanks to her workouts with Eden. Maybe they'd get to play dodgeball. Elle would relish the chance to bounce a few balls off her overly talkative fifth period seatmate's head.

The curly-haired girl hadn't shut up once since they'd been partnered in Spanish - they were doing pronunciation exercises, so she didn't have to - and now they were walking to the cafeteria with her still chattering away in Elle's ear. Boredom and frustration had caused Elle to tune her out. Hours had passed, and there was no sign of her targets anywhere.

It was there, clenching her hands against the charge she felt tingling in her fingertips, that she first saw them. Chalky pale, obviously as bored as Elle herself, and inhumanly beautiful, they drew her attention at once. "Who are _they_?" she blurted, not caring that she'd just interrupted someone.

The chatterbox - Jessica, Elle suddenly recalled - followed her gaze. "Oh, _them_. That's Edward, Emmett, and Alice Cullen, and Rosalie and Jasper Hale. They all live together with Dr. Cullen and his wife."

Elle's ears pricked when she heard their surnames. _The Cullens, huh? It's about damn time they showed up! _ She scrambled for something to say that would get Jessica to reveal more about them. "They're very...nice-looking." _Ugh, lame! _

"Yes!" Jessica agreed with a giggle. "They're all _together_ though - Emmett and Rosalie, and Jasper and Alice, I mean. And they _live_ together. Is that even legal?"

"They're not actually related, Jess," the tall, shy girl sitting on her left reminded her. For Elle's benefit she added, "Rosalie and Jasper are Mrs. Cullen's niece and nephew - she's raised them since they were eight or something - and the other three are all adopted."

"Hmm... Which is which?"

"The blondes are Jasper and Rosalie, the other girl is Alice, the one who looks like a body-builder is Emmett, and the one with the reddish-brown hair is Edward."

Elle nodded absently, still staring at the Cullens. The other kids at her table thought that she, like everyone else seeing them for the first time, was mesmerized by their devastating beauty, while in reality she was plotting how to get to them. If four of the five were paired off, then her best shot would be to try befriending the group's odd man out. Thank goodness he was more appealing than Eric What's-his-face. _Edward Cullen. I'm going to have fun with this. _

**Ok, I wanted to start this 'cause the hardest part of any new story is writing chapter 1, but Resilience is still my first priority. Next chapter of this, whenever I get to it, will be Edward's POV of Elle's first day. **

**To explain further about what Maury did to Elle's mind, I got the idea from a book that I doubt anyone's heard of: Necroscope, the Lost Years part II: Resurgence. Unlike what happened to Harry K in said book, Elle is perfectly aware of everything going on around her, mostly in control of her own actions, and free to think whatever she wants, except anything dangerous that she thinks will be censored when Edward hears it. This is necessary, or he would know she's a Company agent by the end of chapter 2 and the story would be REALLY short. **


	2. Oddity

Chapter 2: Oddity

Edward Cullen hated mornings, because they signaled the beginning of yet another day that would be spent in the purgatory known as Forks High School. None of the five Cullen siblings enjoyed sitting in rooms full of adolescent humans, being 'taught' things they had already studied a zillion times and knew like the backs of their hands, but none of them hated it quite as much as Edward did. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were lucky: they only had to listen to dozens of inane conversations. _Their_ minds weren't crammed full of all the nasty, whiny, sometimes borderline perverted things that teenage humans thought _every minute_ but had enough decency not to verbalize.

Edward sometimes wondered if the powers that be who handed out special talents like his telepathy truly intended this so-called gift to have no higher purpose than making him privy to a bunch of dirty secrets he really didn't care to know. If so, the universe had a rotten sense of humor.

"Oh, Ed-ward," Alice sang. She threw open his bedroom door and skipped inside before he could tell her to get lost. "I just had a vision," she announced in the same sing-song voice. Edward mumbled something so indistinct even a vampire's ears couldn't make it into meaningful words. Alice perched on the back of Edward's black leather sofa and pouted down at him. "That's it? You're not the least bit interested?"

"And why, pray tell, would I be interested in a new girl at school? I already know what the results of her arrival will be: the female students will analyze her wardrobe in microscopic detail and probably be jealous of the attention she'll attract, and the males will think themselves in love with her for a week or so, until they grow accustomed to seeing her around."

Alice arched a jet-black eyebrow. "I thought _I _was the psychic in this family?"

"You are," Edward assured her. "I just know how the humans think, that's all. Their capacity for predictability never ceases to amaze me."

"Me either." Alice hopped off the couch and motioned for Edward to get up as well. "Look, we still have to go to school. Who knows, maybe this new girl will surprise you."

_If she does, I'll feed on nothing but deer next time we hunt. _

"You're really making that bet?"

"Am I?"

"You just decided, yes. Well, I hope for all our sakes that the new girl is as boring as you expect her to be - you're unbearably cranky without your mountain lions."

Rosalie's voice drifted up from downstairs. "He'll be his usual self then."

Overall, it was a perfectly ordinary morning in the Cullen household.

###

The collective thoughts of Forks High's student body hit Edward over a mile from school, making him tense slightly. Sharing a focal point - in this case, the new girl - combined the hundreds of individual threads of thought into one concentrated dose that was exponentially harder to tune out.

This school-wide fixation with her continued throughout the morning, so that by lunchtime Edward was thoroughly sick of seeing Elle Bishop's face although he had yet to lay eyes on her. He saw her for a brief moment in the cafeteria before turning quickly away; everyone else might be gawping at her like the idiots they were, but not him. Ignoring her and her new entourage proved fairly easy until Jessica Stanley began regaling her with the Cullen family's dirty laundry.

_Edward Cullen. _

Reflexively, he turned toward the 'voice' that had just spoken his name and found himself staring into a pair of gray eyes - _hers_. Edward expected her to look away, to be embarrassed that he'd caught her watching him. Instead she unflinchingly met his gaze, and a strange smile formed on her lips. There was nothing strange about the flirtatiousness - Edward had seen _that_ look aimed at him before. No, the strange part was that Elle Bishop's smile also seemed to hold a challenge of sorts, an edge that was almost predatory.

_I'm going to have fun with this. _

I _am 'this', _Edward realized. _She thinks she's going to have fun with me - as if I were the prey, not her!_ It was so absurd that he was forced to do something he'd never before done in this place: resist the urge to burst out laughing.

Jasper picked up his amusement. "What's funny?"

"She is." Edward inclined his head a fraction of a centimeter in Elle's direction.

This answer was so unexpected it distracted Rosalie from her own perfect reflection, which she'd caught in the glasses of a passing student. "_Her?_ The girl you were complaining about this morning?"

"Her thoughts are incredibly...forward. Cheeky, actually."

Emmett gleefully rubbed his hands together. "Another one, huh? Well, it happens, you being such a babe magnet and all. You'll just have to set her straight."

Edward smiled, baring his teeth. Scaring away a little human like her wouldn't be hard; it might even be fun. _Control, control, _he reminded himself. _It won't do to truly frighten her, at least not enough to rouse suspicion. Just intimidate her - put her off so that she'll leave me alone. I really can't take a repeat of those dreadful weeks before Jessica got over her foolish infatuation. _"Yes, if she makes a nuisance of herself I think I might." _We'll see who has fun with whom... _

###

"What've you got next?" Mike asked when the bell rang.

"Biology," Elle promptly answered, having already memorized her schedule.

This pleased Mike. "Me too! Want me to walk you there?"

_No, I want you to walk off a roof. _Elle faked a smile. "Sure, I could use some help until I get the lay of the land." Just so it was clear he was only her temporary tour guide; in no way did she want him following her around indefinitely.

Mike cheerfully led Elle to the lab, which she quickly scanned - a good agent always had to be aware of her surroundings. Some people were still milling around, but Elle was pretty sure that once they settled down nearly every seat would be filled. In fact, the only available one seemed to be next to Edward Cullen. He was already seated and gazing up at the ceiling with an expression of profound boredom. So far that seemed to be the only expression he had. _Perfect. _

###

_Perfect. _It was just one word, but the 'voice' cut straight through the babble, both vocal and mental, filling the room.

Edward slowly turned his head in the voice's direction, speculating on the odds that he'd only imagined hearing it. But no - Elle Bishop was there, live and in person, making her way up to Mr. Banner's desk to get her slip signed. _This class is nearly full, _Edward suddenly realized, _which means there's only one place for her to sit. _

Sure enough, Mr. Banner was saying, "There's just one place left, over there by Mr. Cullen. Take a seat, and you two will be lab partners for the rest of the year."

So Edward removed his things from what was now Elle's half of their table, and then she was striding up like she owned the place and dropping her bag on the newly vacated space and _smiling _at him. "Hi, I'm-"

"I know who you are." He was being brusque almost to the point of rudeness but didn't care; this human's overly friendly behavior had to be nipped in the bud.

Elle ducked her head, flustered. _Of course he does. Like anyone could fly under the radar here. How's this undercover deal supposed to work with them blabbing about everything I do?! _

Thanks to Maury Parkman's meddling in Elle's mind, Edward heard something more like: _Of course he does. Like anyone could fly under the radar here. How's this - - supposed to work with them blabbing about everything I do?! _He guessed that prior to moving here she must have lived in a city large enough to afford its residents some privacy and this place, where everyone knew the details of everyone else's comings and goings, must be a bit of a culture shock for her.

He had barely reached this conclusion when Elle's chagrin vanished, leaving her smiling once more. "I know who you are, too: the guy I'm supposed to work with. So, does any of this crap-" she gestured to a textbook page detailing the stages of mitosis "-mean anything to you?"

"You mean to say you haven't seen this before? It's completely unfamiliar to you?"

Elle shrugged. "Might've seen it before, but if I have I forgot it." _In my line of work, you don't need to know mitosis. _

_- - - - -, you don't need to know mitosis. _Edward agreed with her; he'd lived more than a hundred years without once finding his knowledge of mitosis useful in daily life. Unfortunately this wasn't real life, it was high school. "Look, I know this probably seems pointless, but you still need to know it."

Elle folded her arms over her chest. "Tell me one time when I will."

"Easy - you need to know it right now unless you want to fail this assignment."

The words 'fail this assignment' seemed to have an effect on her; she stiffened and let her arms drop to her sides. "Can't have that," she said softly, to herself.

"I thought not." Edward began setting up the microscope. He felt an odd satisfaction at having one-upped the girl, even in such a trivial matter as the importance of mitosis. She was no more difficult to manage than the average human after all.

Then she leaned in to peer through the eyepiece the second he got slide number one in place, inadvertently sticking her head right under his nose. Her scent hit him full force and he jerked away, startled - partly because no human had _ever_ invaded his personal space like that, but mostly because Elle Bishop's scent was like nothing he'd encountered before. It was sweet but didn't fit Edward's idea of sweetness, tangy but with no real citrus quality to account for the tang, and it attracted him like nothing else. _Obviously - it's human blood and I haven't fed in weeks. _ But somehow, Elle didn't smell quite like food. This bothered Edward; humans _had_ no attraction for his kind except as walking meals. How could he like Elle's scent, yet feel no impulse to bite her?

"Hey, anybody in there?" Elle rapped her knuckles on Edward's forehead. He carefully took hold of her wrist and moved her hand away from his face, depositing it in her lap. She shivered at his touch and murmured, "You're cold."

Edward pulled back; he should have known better than to touch her, should have known there was no way she would fail to notice his temperature. "I'm sitting under an air conditioning vent, so of course I'm cold. Now, was there any reason you were knocking on my forehead and asking if I was 'in there'?" _As if I would be anywhere else. _

"Oh...yeah," she said distractedly. "I looked at the slide and I think it's...um...anaphase. Check me?" She pushed the microscope toward him.

"You're right," he told her after taking a look, unable to keep a note of surprise from his voice and immediately wondering if he'd offended her.

She surprised him again by smiling. "I'm a quick study."

The remainder of class passed in much the same way: Elle looked at the slides first, then Edward double-checked her. Four times out of five she got it right, and he offered to let her set up the sixth slide. She did so rather slowly even though it was hardly rocket science. "Haven't you done this before?" Edward asked, trying not to sound condescending. It was as if she'd never touched a microscope before today.

"Nope."

"_No? _ They didn't have microscopes at your old school?" For that to be the case, she'd have to have gone to a school even smaller than this one...

"I never went to school. My dad...homeschooled me." _That's one word for it, I guess._

"All your life?"

"Since I was four." At least Bennet said that was when her training had begun; Elle couldn't really remember that far back.

Edward stared at her, consternation written clearly in his black eyes. "It seems unreasonable to try teaching a child at such a young age."

"Unreasonable or not, it's my life." _Do whatever Daddy says and never complain about it. _There was an edge of bitterness and pain in that thought, but none in her voice when she went on, "Now Dad's decided I should go to public school, so here I am."

There was something strange in the way she said this, as though living according to her father's whims was perfectly normal._ Perhaps for her it is; still, most teenagers would rebel against a parent keeping such control over their life. Whereas she... If I hadn't heard her thoughts I would never have guessed she's the slightest bit unhappy. She hides her emotions very_ _well for a human... _

The bell rang, interrupting Edward's musings on the oddity that was Elle Bishop. Having packed up her stuff before the bell, she grabbed her bag, gave Edward a wave and a "Later, alligator" and then sashayed off without a backward glance. By the time Edward remembered that he'd meant to be unpleasant to her, she was already gone. 

**Okay, I realize Elle and Edward became (sort of) friends much faster than he and Bella did in the book; I attribute that to Elle being more assertive than Bella. Her job is to get close to Edward, and she isn't one to waste time. Believable?**

**Next up, Elle reports to Thompson while Emmett and Jasper razz Edward for not putting the fear of God in her. That means more Cullen family interaction so I have to ask, do I do okay at that? There're so many of the Cullens, it's hard to write a seven-way conversation. **


	3. Reactions

**Sorry it's been forever since I updated! I do have excuses, and one or two may even be valid. Does shopping count? New shoes are very important...**

**Be sure to tell me what you think about my portrayal of the Cullens, please (this is assuming I still have readers out there...somewhere). **

Chapter 3: Reactions

The Cullen siblings - minus Edward, who was late for some as-yet-unknown reason - were gathered around their car before most of the other students had even made it outdoors. Consequently, they got an excellent view of Elle speed-walking across the parking lot with Jessica, Mike, and Eric trailing after her. Emmett elbowed Jasper, who happened to be standing next to him. "Hey, new girl at twelve o'clock."

"Yes, I noticed."

Rosalie cast a critical eye over the newcomer; she was still wearing that absurd raincoat, although she had lowered the hood now that there was no hint of rain in the air. The hair spilling down her back was as long, thick, and golden as Rosalie's, her face _was_ decent-looking by human standards, and she was more fit than the average human, but all that aside she was really nothing special. Certainly not someone who should have drawn Emmett's attention with Rosalie present. "So what?" she snapped.

Emmett flashed a mischievous grin. "I wonder how bad Eddie scared the hell outta her. Check 'er out, Jazz."

Jasper obligingly homed in on Elle's emotions, his brow wrinkling first in concentration, then puzzlement. "She's annoyed - those other humans irritate her - and eager to leave here, but not at all frightened."

"She's _not_?!" Emmett's expression of disbelief was comical. "Are you telling me Edward doesn't scare her? Where is he anyway?"

"Edward will be here within sixty seconds," Alice told him. "You can count."

Emmett did so in his head; Edward arrived just as he reached thirteen-Mississippi and asked, "Why are you counting seconds?"

"Duh, I was waiting for you. What the hell took you so long?"

"You're distracted," Jasper observed. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing terribly important. Let's go."

Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Rosalie got into Edward's Volvo with some shrugging and raising of eyebrows. Edward himself paused to look around the parking lot before following suit, and glimpsed Elle dumping her book bag and purse on the passenger seat of a dark green matchbox-sized Subaru. Hardly up to snuff in Edward's book, but there were several people in Forks who drove worse. In any case it was nice to know which car was hers; Edward filed this new tidbit away in his limited store of information regarding one Elle Bishop.

###

"Any weekend plans, Elle?" Jessica asked.

"I hear it's supposed to rain all weekend," Eric chipped in, determined to get Elle's attention.

"Then I'll be staying in." Elle had learned the hard way that her ability and rain did _not_ mix.

"You really don't like water, do you? Are you like hydrophobic?"

Elle smirked at Mike. "Yeah, I'm rabid. But don't worry - I won't bite." _Not you anyway. _ The Cullens were the ones she wanted to sink her teeth into, because the sooner she finished with them, the sooner she could leave this miserable mud-hole. Better yet, if she aced this assignment Daddy might be persuaded to un-bench her for real, and she'd never have to sit through another stupid high school class ever again. She thought she'd made progress with Edward today in spite of his inconvenient antisocial tendencies...

A sudden prickling on the back of Elle's neck alerted her that she was being watched. People had been watching her all day, yet this felt different, more intense. She pulled her head out of her car, straightened up, and turned to find her target staring at her, his dark eyes inscrutable. She smiled and waved. He frowned slightly and got into his shiny silver Volvo without returning or even acknowledging her friendly gesture. "Rude," she muttered.

"Wow," Jessica breathed, "that's twice in one day!"

"He just totally ignored me, the jerk!"

"Looking at you is not ignoring you - at least not for him. For him, that's a _lot_ of attention. But you're lab partners in bio, right? That's probably the only reason he notices you."

Elle detected a hint of jealousy in Jessica's tone; it pleased her although she was careful to keep her satisfaction hidden. "Nah...I think it's the technicolor raincoat."

###

This had most definitely not gone unnoticed by Edward's brothers and sisters. Emmett waited till they were out on the road, then stuck his face close to Edward's and gave him the hairy eyeball. "New girl seemed awfully friendly just now."

"Yes, she's quite an outgoing person." Edward put a hand over Emmett's face and pushed him back to his side of the car.

"Humans generally don't smile and wave at scary people, though," Alice pointed out, "and yet she waved at you."

"That would be because she, er, isn't scared of me," Edward admitted, voice dropping progressively on each of the last four words. "In fact, I don't intimidate her at all."

Stunned silence greeted this confession. Suddenly Rosalie's eyes narrowed and she said, "Hold on... You weren't _nice_ to her, were you?"

"Comparatively, I suppose. I don't know what happened! I meant to ignore her, but then Mr. Banner made us partners and assigned a lab for which we had to work together and-" He cut himself off, not wanting to get into Elle's intriguing statements about her father or her strange scent. Those were things he preferred to discuss privately with Carlisle, if at all.

"And what?" Emmett prompted.

"Nothing. Why don't you take over driving, Em? I feel like running."

_Primatech warehouse, Port Angeles_

Elle found Thompson lifting weights in the gym; he was, she reflected, in fairly good shape for a man his age, though he had a way to go before he was ready to go a round with Emmett Cullen. _Actually I bet that guy could bench-press Thompson. _She crept up on him and sent a small charge through his dumbbells, which he dropped with a yelp.

"Elle Elizabeth Bishop!"

"Hey ya, tiger."

Thompson shoved futilely at the weight pinning him across his chest. "Help me get this off!"

Ignoring him, Elle seated herself on the end of his bench and patted his foot. "So, who wants to hear all about my first day at Hicktown High?"

Distracted from his plight, Thompson lifted the constraints Maury had placed on Elle so she could report.

"I've seen the five Cullen kids - well, technically two of them are Hales, not Cullens, but whatever. Anywho, Edward Cullen is my biology lab partner. Easiest target acquisition ever."

"What about the other four?"

"No go there - since they're only siblings by adoption, the other four date each other and they're all like this." Elle tightly crossed her middle finger over her index to demonstrate. "Edward's pretty standoffish himself; I doubt he'll be inviting me over for an after-school snack anytime soon."

"But he doesn't have a girlfriend?"

"Nope."

"Then it's obvious how you should proceed."

Elle was skeptical. "You want me to...what? Date Edward Cullen?" _Sure, because getting personally involved with a target worked so well last time. I think Thompson may be trying to get me killed! _

Guessing the direction of her thoughts, Thompson said, "Date, yes, just be careful. Unless you're afraid you can't handle a seventeen-year-old boy?"

"Oh, I can handle him," Elle snapped, bristling. "That punk doesn't scare me!"

"Good, because now that you've made contact it's too late for you to pull out. You're in this to the end, got it?"

There was nothing more to say after that, so Elle left, idly wondering how long it would take Thompson to free himself. Considering that he'd been bench-pressing 250 lbs., it might be a while. Once he got out he just might be a little upset with her for leaving him like that. And putting him in that position in the first place. _Oh well..._

In the meantime, there was all of Port Angeles to explore. Admittedly all of Port Angeles didn't amount to much, especially not as far as a girl from New York was concerned. Elle decided she should earn major points just for being here. At least there were several places to shop; it couldn't hurt to be fully stocked on makeup, as it appeared her mission now included dating. _If_ she was really going to go through with that part. Surely just being Edward's friend would suffice - people were just as likely to share secrets like, oh, superhuman abilities with a friend, weren't they? Elle had never had a real friend - you couldn't count Eden, who probably wouldn't hang out with Elle if she didn't have to train her - so she couldn't be sure.

###

The woods were cool, quiet, and peaceful. By now they were also very dark - the sun had set some while ago and tonight was a new moon - but that was inconsequential. Edward could see as well on the blackest of nights as in broad daylight.

The hours between leaving his siblings and the present had blurred past in one long run, and he'd even chased a young buck for a mile or so. The deer hadn't been appetizing enough to kill; it was just for fun. Most importantly, the clear, pine-scented air had done its job of clearing Edward's head, bringing him to the conclusion that he had overreacted to what he'd dubbed 'the Bishop problem'. So he hadn't immediately succeeded in putting her off with the briskly disinterested act that had worked so well on everyone else - so what? There had to be a few uncommonly bold humans on the planet, and he'd finally met one. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Besides, Elle was new in town and didn't yet know that the Cullens were to be left alone, but she would learn. Comforted by this thought, Edward went home.

Esme accosted him the instant he was inside, demanding to know what had happened at school.

"Nothing, Mom."

_Right, you took off for almost eight hours because of nothing. _

Seeing that she wasn't about to be put off, Edward reluctantly elaborated. "I was assigned a lab partner in biology, and she's obnoxiously chatty. That's it. I apologize if I worried you."

"Oh, well if that's all... Your classmates have been friendlier than you'd like in the past, and you've dealt with them." _Though why he insists on scaring away every single person who tries to be nice to him I really don't know - I _do _wish he wasn't alone all the time. _

Edward tuned this out; he'd heard similar things from Esme a hundred times before and knew she remembered the response he invariably gave: that if there was ever someone he _wanted_ to be friends with he wouldn't scare them off, but humans generally weren't worth the bother.

A football game playing on the living room television gave way to a commercial, and Emmett turned his attention from the screen to his adoptive mother and brother. "Dealing with this chick may not be so easy. Edward left out the part where his stay-away-from-me-I'm-a-scary-guy routine didn't work on her."

"I think he's going soft as he gets on in years, personally," Rosalie chipped in. "Losing his touch."

"I'll show you who's losing their touch." Edward tackled and pinned the blonde vampire.

Rosalie growled furiously. "You're. Messing. Up. My. _Hair_! Get off me!"

"Not until you take back that completely unfounded and ridiculous comment. And don't expect Emmett to come to your rescue - he thinks this is funny."

Rosalie was prepared to say she needed no rescuing but rethought it when Edward positioned a hand on the top of her head, ready to do some serious hair-mussing. "Fine, fine, I take it back! Any self-respecting human should run for the hills when you pull your scary-guy routine."

Satisfied, Edward spared Rosalie's hair and released her; Esme had been about to make him do it anyway. She had only let the tussle go on as long as it had because there'd been no casualties among the furniture.

###

Three hours and two CDs later, Edward heard a knock on his bedroom door. Recognizing the sound of the approaching footsteps and the scent as Carlisle's, Edward gave him permission to enter purely out of politeness although he _really_ wasn't in the mood for further discussion of Elle Bishop. "I don't want to talk about her anymore," he said immediately after his 'father' came in and shut the door behind him.

"But you haven't told us everything, have you? For her to have upset you so deeply, there must be more to the situation than you being forced to work with her and her talking too much. Edward, I'm only asking because this is very important: does she suspect anything?"

"No, she hasn't compared us to characters in some gothic romance novel, nothing like that. She _did_ notice how cold my hands are, but I explained it away easily."

"You touched her?" Carlisle asked sharply.

"Only after she did the same to me," Edward protested. Then, without meaning to, he launched into a full rundown of his new lab partner's disquieting behavior. "She rapped on my forehead and asked if there was anybody in there. It was actually quite rude. Earlier, when Mike Newton offered to walk her to class, she thought, 'no, I want you to walk off a roof' and seemed to enjoy that mental image a bit too much for comfort. Also, her scent is...strange."

Not knowing what to make of the fact that Elle might find Mike Newton falling off a roof entertaining anymore than Edward did, Carlisle skipped that part in favor of one which was more in his sphere of experience. "This strange scent of hers won't make it too difficult for you to work with her, will it?" _If that's the case, I'm sure I can arrange to have Edward transferred out of that class, or- _

"I don't need a transfer," Edward interrupted. "Her scent doesn't attract me _that_ way. That's what's strange - she smells very nice, yet I wasn't tempted to feed on her. I have a feeling; it's hard to describe..."

"Please try."

"...That Elle Bishop isn't like other humans. That she's different in a way I can't begin to imagine."

Carlisle made no reply, verbal or mental.

_At least he doesn't think I'm insane. _ "I wish you wouldn't mention this to Esme - I'd hate to worry her, especially as I doubt Elle will talk to me again tomorrow." The last part was a lie; all the evidence suggested that Elle had every intention of talking to Edward again. He instantly felt guilty and tried to make up for the fib by adding something that was absolutely true: "No one ever does."

"I won't say a word," Carlisle promised.

Edward felt more relief than he should have, because really, there was no reason for the whole family to get so worked up over one isolated incident. When you'd lived as long as the Cullens had _any_ new thing was cause for excitement, but this particular new thing would almost certainly blow over soon. Why should any human, odd or not, seek out a vampire's company when they had several potential friends of their own kind to choose among?

But Carlisle had barely left the room when Alice crept in to take his place. "I couldn't help foreseeing what you were going to say to him-" It was true that she was so attuned to Edward and Carlisle that visions of their futures came to her with no effort on her part; however, she could have blocked this one out if she'd tried. Edward didn't call her on it, though - he unintentionally invaded others' privacy far too often to mind when Alice did it to him. "-And you're wrong. Your human's future is too much in flux for me to get a clear picture just now - and yes, I _know_ you don't think of her as _your_ human...yet - but I can see tomorrow and she will definitely talk to you again. You were right about one thing: she _is_ different. And oh God, _WHAT is she wearing_?!"

**One thing I ought to clarify and just realized I haven't: Elle's scent is different because she's an evolved human. For some reason I decided vampires should be able to sniff out 'specials' in this story, okay?**

**There will be more Elleward interaction in the next chapter, yippee! Now the only question is, which one is most likely to be the bad influence? **


	4. Stalker

**Believe it or not, the boots in this chapter are real - I saw them during my last shopping trip and decided to include them here because given Elle's, ah, low tolerance for water, rubber boots would be a necessity for her in a place like Forks. **

Chapter 4: Stalker

Despite knowing that Alice's visions were usually accurate, Edward still couldn't believe his eyes when Elle walked into Mr. Banner's classroom. Her top and denim skirt were nothing extraordinary; though the latter was perhaps shorter than it should have been, the leggings she wore underneath it kept it from being truly indecent. Her bright yellow plaid-patterned rubber boots, on the other hand - there was simply no mitigating or excusing those.

Edward's eyes - like everyone else's - were irresistibly drawn to them, and of course Elle noticed. He knew right then that his plan to ignore her like he ought to have done yesterday was ruined. She sat down and swiveled her stool toward his, looking happier to see him than any human should be to see a vampire. "Hey you."

"Good afternoon, Elle." Edward was unable to keep a note of resignation from his voice; it seemed he couldn't escape this girl's attentions.

"What's so good about it? It's still wet even though it hasn't rained all day. Doesn't it ever dry out here?"

"Two or three times a year, I believe. You'll get plenty of use out of your boots here."

"That's cool - I like my boots." Elle crossed her legs to get a better view of her flashy footwear, her skirt pulling up slightly as she did so.

Edward immediately looked away and would have gone red if that was possible for a vampire. He covered his discomfiture by saying, "Half the people in school think you must be colorblind."

"Because of these?" She put one of her yellow-booted feet on the edge of Edward's stool, nudging his leg with her toes.

He took the offending foot by its vividly colored rubber covering and removed it from his seat - really, did the girl have no respect for others' personal space? "They _are_ extremely yellow."

"I know; I'm not colorblind, no matter what everybody thinks."

"_I_ never thought you were." The words popped out almost as a growl before Edward could stop them. "I think you just like drawing attention to yourself."

If he'd hoped to embarrass Elle, it didn't work. She gave him a sly smile and said, "Maybe I do. I got _your _attention, didn't I?"

Edward hated to admit how relieved he was that Mr. Banner called the class to order at that moment.

###

The next couple days passed in much the same way: Edward went into biology class intending to act like Elle didn't exist, and every day she somehow made this impossible. She also continued to confirm his initial impression that she wasn't like anyone else he'd ever met. Humans, Edward had learned from decades of observing them, were pack animals that would do almost anything to gain acceptance. Not Elle Bishop. Most girls would have been thrilled at the proffered friendship of a popular 'alpha female' like Jessica Stanley; Elle merely tolerated her during school and consistently refused her invitations to hang out somewhere else. Elle also spurned the advances of all the boys who asked her out, including the popular ones that any other girl would have loved to date.

Not everyone in Forks High thought positively of the new girl, however. Lauren Mallory was both jealous of all the attention Elle got and profoundly irritated by Elle's indifference to it, and made her displeasure known with the occasional snarky comment to others and constant coldness toward Elle herself. To Lauren's incredible frustration, Elle was as unaffected by her attitude as she'd been by Edward's attempts at giving her the cold shoulder when they first met. This pleased Edward - it was nice to know he wasn't the only one who failed to intimidate her.

He'd given up trying after a day or two. In fact - though he vehemently denied it whenever any of his family asked him about it - he secretly enjoyed her company. She was the first human whose entire nature Edward hadn't figured after five minutes, and he found her unpredictability refreshing - a welcome change in the stifling monotony of high school.

One Thursday as he surreptitiously watched her at lunch, he found himself wondering what it would be like to talk to her outside of the lab. They had biology next period; he could go over when the bell rang and ask if she'd like to walk to class with him. It would be perfectly safe - there were plenty of other people around, and it was already obvious that Elle didn't feel most humans' instinctive uneasiness around vampires. Neither did her thoughts indicate that she felt the same disdain for him as she did for everybody else. There was no reason she should refuse...

_Go for it, _Alice thought.

Edward flicked his gaze Elle's way, then raised one eyebrow ever so slightly.

_No, I can't see that - she won't decide until you ask her. Even if she doesn't want to, what's the worst she can do? Just go over and talk to her already! _

The bell rang, and a hundred-plus students jumped up and began scurrying in all directions at once. Edward wove effortlessly through the crush of human bodies with the stealthy grace of a lion stalking its next meal, creeping up on the oblivious prey animal as she prepared to leave the watering hole. The predator struck without warning, culling his prey from the herd in one swift move. "Hello, Elle."

She spun around, drawing on every bit of her training to stop herself zapping the owner of the soft, velvety voice issuing from a spot where no one had been a second ago. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"Like what?" Edward widened his topaz eyes innocently, but Elle was too annoyed for them to work on her.

"Like some freaky prowler," she snapped.

Edward smiled. "My apologies. I simply wanted to ask if you'd like to walk to class with me."

Elle still eyed him with a touch of wariness but agreed. He picked up her book bag - making her frown slightly; she hadn't given him permission to take it even if he was just trying to be chivalrous - and they left the cafeteria together, both perfectly aware of the stir they were causing and not caring a bit.

###

Alone in her room that night, Elle took out her special notebook. It wasn't one she used at school; she was very careful never to take it there, or leave it laying out where Thompson could find it. It was her private log of her work with the Company, containing pages of notes on her current assignment.

_**Edward Cullen**_

_Possible abilities_

_Telepathy - seems to know what everyone's thinking, said some people thought I was colorblind for buying those yellow boots even though I __know__ nobody told him that - the guy doesn't have __any__ friends. But maybe he's just really observant?_

_Super-hearing - another way he could've heard what people were saying about my boots. But I heard that too, and I know I don't have super-hearing. _

_Conclusion: subject is a tough nut to crack, but I __WILL__ crack him! (Eventually)_

_Other observations_

_Subject's skin is abnormally cold (tried to pass it off as result of sitting under air conditioning vent) Maybe I should try touching him when he's __not__ under a vent? But he seems like he'd be hard to sneak up on (more support for the enhanced senses theory?) Not sure what cold skin means anyway unless subject is part reptile. _

_Subject's eyes change color, from black to gold and back. Thought at first it might be just a trick of the light, but no one else's eyes do that. Ditto above: don't know of any eye-color-change ability. _

_Subject is freakishly pale (anemic? iron deficient?) and so are his brothers and sisters. How could they all have the same genetic problem when they're not actually related? Unless adoption story is a lie and they're really a bunch of incestuous inbred freaks. In that case I should be careful if I'm ever alone with any of them - they might be cannibals. __If__ you believe the movies. I can still fry their pasty butts, so it's not important. _

Her lunchtime encounter with Edward had given her some new ideas, and she hurried to jot them down. When she finished, the section of her notebook devoted to the Cullen assignment had expanded to this:

_**Edward Cullen**_

_Possible abilities_

_Telepathy - seems to know what everyone's thinking, said some people thought I was colorblind for buying those yellow boots even though I __know__ nobody told him that - the guy doesn't have __any__ friends. But maybe he's just really observant?_

_Super-hearing - another way he could've heard what people were saying about my boots. But I heard that too, and I know I don't have super-hearing. _

_Invisibility - he snuck up on me in cafeteria today even though with my training nobody should be able to sneak up on me, so he must have been using his ability. This one would be hard to use in a crowded lunchroom though, __someone__ would be bound to see him appearing out of thin air. But my classmates are so stupid, maybe not. (Jessica blabbers so much I could use __my__ ability right under her nose and she wouldn't notice.)_

_Super-speed - ditto above theory. Saw no evidence of paper/books blown off tables or people knocked over, so unlikely. Also too conspicuous for public use. _

_Super-strength - he picked up my book bag as well as his and didn't seem to have any trouble with the extra weight although I had more than one semi-heavy book in there. This ability is subtler than the others, so he could get away with using it as long as he didn't do anything drastic like lifting a car with one hand or punching through walls. Most likely possibility yet. _

_Conclusion: subject is a tough nut to crack, but I __WILL__ crack him! (Eventually)_

_New conclusion: more time needed with subject, but at least one of these has to be right. _

_Other observations_

_Subject's skin is abnormally cold (tried to pass it off as result of sitting under air conditioning vent) Maybe I should try touching him when he's __not__ under a vent? But he seems like he'd be hard to sneak up on (more support for the enhanced senses theory?) Not sure what cold skin means anyway unless subject is part reptile. _

_Subject's eyes change color, from black to gold and back. Thought at first it might be just a trick of the light, but no one else's eyes do that. Ditto above: don't know of any eye-color-change ability. _

_Subject is freakishly pale (anemic? iron deficient?) and so are his brothers and sisters. How could they all have the same genetic problem when they're not actually related? Unless adoption story is a lie and they're really a bunch of incestuous inbred freaks. In that case I should be careful if I'm ever alone with any of them - they might be cannibals. __If__ you believe the movies. I can still fry their pasty butts, so it's not important. _

_Today I noticed that lots of girls get tongue-tied around the subject; when he came over to my table Jessica shut up for the first time all day (thank you Edward!) and I could swear Lauren drooled a little. (Then again it __is__ Lauren; I wouldn't be surprised if her tiny brain isn't powerful enough to stop her slobbering on herself.) Is there some kind of hypnotism ability centered in the eyes? I haven't heard of one, but it might be worth looking into. Or it could just be that Edward Cullen is very attractive. I'd be attracted to him if I didn't know what happens when you get too personally involved with an assignment - will __NOT__ make that mistake again! Playing is OK, attachment isn't. _

_Conclusion: if Jessica doesn't quit talking so much I am going to kill her, screw Thompson's orders. I can make sure he never finds her b_

Elle put down her pen, seized by a feeling of being watched. Electricity was already crackling at her fingertips, but there didn't seem to be anyone there except her. "Thompson?" _If that's him trying to scare me, I'm _really_ gonna kick his ass! _

The only answer came in the form of a gust of wind blowing in through her open window. Elle shivered, closed her notebook, and quickly crossed the room to slam the window shut.

###

_What am I doing here? I had no right to follow her home, and I certainly shouldn't be standing outside her apartment building, listening to her thoughts. If anyone saw me here they'd think I'm stalking her! _

Edward had almost convinced himself to leave when he heard his name in Elle's mind. So she thought about him when they were apart; that pleased him more than it should. But _how_ did she think of him? She held the majority of their classmates in the utmost contempt and though she hadn't seemed as disdainful toward him, neither had she shown any indication that she thought of him as anything more than a lab partner. Maybe she was just wishing he was there to help her with her homework?

He paid even closer attention to her mind, yet her thoughts wouldn't come into sharper focus. It was like listening to a badly tuned radio - he could pick out a word or two, but mostly just got a kind of mental static. _How strange. Perhaps I need to get closer. _He crossed the street and positioned himself directly beneath her window, to no effect. _She shouldn't leave the window open - someone could easily break in. It's very reckless even if she is on the second floor._ He was surprised by how much her recklessness distressed him. Then again, this was the girl who felt completely at ease in the presence of a vampire; human burglars were comparatively harmless. It was almost as though Elle thought nothing could hurt her...

And still her thoughts remained exasperatingly unclear. _Has she fallen asleep? _ If she had, then that open window was all the more dangerous. _I'll just check if she's asleep, _Edward decided, _and if she is I'll close the window. Looking inside her room isn't so terrible if it keeps her safe._ He climbed spider-like up the wall and peeked in.

Elle was hunched over her desk. At first glance she appeared to be sleeping, but then Edward heard a pen scratching on paper and realized she was writing. Apparently she didn't want anyone to see _what_ she was writing, because she took great care to obscure her paper from view with her hair and left arm. Her diary, perhaps?

Suddenly she sat up straight, dropping her pen. Her mind sharpened into high alert mode as she somehow sensed she wasn't alone. Edward pulled away from the window and pressed himself flat to the wall above it, out of sight unless Elle happened to look up. "Thompson?" she called, voice quavering ever so slightly. _If that's him trying to scare me, I'm _really_ gonna kick his ass! _

Edward stayed perfectly still, not even breathing. When she heard nothing, Elle decided it must have been just the wind. Edward let out a soft sigh of relief as she closed the window, then scurried back down to street level. Elle Bishop had an uncommon - and inconvenient - awareness of her surroundings; it was too risky to stay any longer.

###

"Where have you been?" Rosalie demanded when Edward arrived home, shortly after three in the morning.

"Out."

Rosalie rolled her eyes. "Monosyllabic as ever - I know you've been out. I asked where."

"Running." It wasn't a lie - he _had_ run from Forks to Port Angeles and back.

"Is that so? Where you ran to is the question, then. Your jacket smells like human civilization; did you go into town?"

Edward was pleased to be able to answer this one with complete honesty. "I haven't gone into Forks."

"You're fast enough to make Port Angeles too. Say, doesn't the human from your biology class live there?"

Edward immediately became more aggressive, practically growling, "What if she does?"

"I knew it!" Rosalie hissed. "You tracked her there, didn't you? Is she _that_ appetizing?" _And if she is, why is he dragging it out like this instead of going straight for the kill? _

Without meaning to, the other vampires in the house had picked up every word of Edward and Rosalie's conversation, and they all reacted to her last spoken words. Carlisle and Esme, who'd been around last time Edward broke from their animals-only diet, became worried that they were about to see a repeat of those years. Jasper detected their tension and tried to send out calming vibes even though the idea of killing and feeding on a human excited him - he also worried about that. Alice scanned the future, her anxiety rapidly decreasing as she saw that Edward had no immediate plans to kill Elle. Emmett simply stayed where he was; it was none of his business what Edward did with his lab partner.

"I don't think of her that way," Edward said sharply. "Elle is not food."

"So what is she?" Rose pressed.

Edward couldn't answer, because he didn't know.

**Next chapter will be the class with the blood typing, except it won't play quite like it did in the book. No one faints, for one thing. For another, Edward ends up in the girls' restroom. **


	5. Mental

**Phew! This got WAY longer than I'd intended! E & E finally get some alone time in this chapter and it kind of ran away with me. Their interaction when not surrounded by other people just interested me too much. **

Chapter 5: Mental

Alice entered Edward's room (without knocking, as usual) before dawn to announce, "I just had a vision, and you won't like it."

Edward immediately tried to pick it out of her mind, but she was determinedly thinking of something else; she was going to make him ask. "Okay, I'll bite. What did you see, Alice?"

"You won't be seeing your human in class today."

He shot up off his sofa faster than a human who'd just realized he had sat on a cactus. "Why won't I? Will Elle miss school? Is she all right?"

Alice smirked. It may have escaped Edward's attention that he'd neglected to remind her that Elle was absolutely _not_ 'his' human, but she had certainly noticed. "Awfully protective of her, aren't you? I wonder why that is..."

"She is the only human with a somewhat original mind - school would be dull beyond endurance without her."

"So you only care if she's okay because you'd miss your boredom buster? Right."

"Now you sound like Esme. Just tell me why I won't see Elle in class, please."

"They're blood typing in biology today," Alice informed him.

Edward made no reply - there was nothing he could say to this. If he had Carlisle's level of control he might be able to resist the blood, but that still left the minor problems of there not being a lancet in existence that could puncture his skin and him having no bodily fluids besides venom. He would have to skip biology; there was no other course of action available. It was just rotten luck that this meant he'd also have to give up the hour that had become the highlight of his time at school.

###

Elle polished off her fruit salad before the bell rang but stayed where she was, even though few things would have made her happier than to get away from Jessica, who was still talking, naturally. Elle wished Mr. Banner would explain how it was possible for someone to eat without shutting up once, instead of all the useless cellular crap he seemed so fond of. Who the hell needed to know the details of the Krebs Cycle anyway? To make matters worse, Jessica had an entourage of friends that followed her everywhere - even to the _bathroom_ - meaning Elle hadn't yet found an opportunity to kill her. _I guess I could do it if I _really_ wanted to, _she mused. _I could corner them in the bathroom...but then I'd have to take out Angela and Lauren too, and where would I hide three bodies? This is getting to be more trouble than it's worth. Maybe I should move on to another strategy for shutting Jessica up, like duct tape..._

The back of her neck prickled. She hardly needed to look around but did nevertheless. As she'd expected, Edward Cullen was watching her intently from his family's table on the opposite side of the cafeteria. He appeared to be highly amused by something, and Elle saw no other possible source of his amusement besides herself. A quick check in her compact mirror showed that she didn't have anything on her face, and her outfit _du jour_ was fairly conservative by her standards. She really couldn't see that she was doing anything funny unless...unless Edward knew what she'd just been thinking. Well, telepathy _was_ on her list of abilities she thought he might possess.

But if he knew she had been considering the particulars of killing three people, why was he looking entertained as opposed to, oh, disturbed or frightened? _Maybe he's more like me than I thought. _ Now Edward wasn't the only one smiling.

At the Cullens' table, Rosalie, profoundly annoyed to find Edward staring at that human _again_, dug her elbow into his ribs.

"Ouch!" He shifted away from her. "What was that for?"

"Just trying to get you to put your eyeballs back in their sockets," Rose answered snippily. "There's no reason to gawk at the girl - she's not even wearing those hideous boots today."

"I don't find her boots hideous."

"'Course not," Emmett said with an uncharacteristic slyness. "You like 'em 'cause they give you an excuse to look at her legs."

"That is utterly preposterous," Edward snapped.

Emmett sensed that he'd struck a nerve and pressed on. "She does have nice legs. You could tell especially when she wore that miniskirt with the really _tight_ tights..."

Edward was getting agitated. "I do not like to look at Elle's legs! Or any of her other body parts for that matter!" he added hastily, knowing where Emmett's mind would go next.

"Let it go, Em," Jasper advised. "Edward isn't physically attracted to that girl, and you're making him angry." He was also picking up severe aggravation and something suspiciously like jealousy from Rosalie but wisely chose not to mention it - she'd never admit to being jealous of a mere human, and suggesting that she was would only serve to anger her further.

Emmett took his advice and let it go; Rosalie did not. "So why _were_ you looking at her if you're not attracted to her?" _And I'm not saying I believe he isn't..._

The corners of Edward's mouth twitched. "She's annoyed by Jessica Stanley's constant chatter - she was contemplating doing away with her if she doesn't quit soon."

"So she's a maniac."

"Oh, I doubt she was serious," Edward said dismissively. "At least she hasn't inflicted any actual bodily harm on anyone...unlike certain people." He glanced pointedly at his elbowed side. The bell rang before Rose had a chance to make a comeback. "Now, if you'll excuse me, Elle is waiting for me to walk her to class."

_But you're not going to class today, _Alice telepathically called after him. He gave no indication of having heard her. _Edward! _

He winced slightly - for something that produced no real sound, Alice's mental 'voice' could be quite loud, but he ignored her and proceeded to the table where Elle sat with her classmates. He wasn't about to let her down after she'd braved an extra ten minutes of sitting next to the chatterbox just to wait for him.

Him and Elle walking to class together had become so much a routine over the last week that his approach surprised nobody anymore, though Eric Yorkie still glared daggers at him when he came over. Elle noticed but didn't care. For some reason this pleased Edward immensely, though it wasn't the kind of pleasure that felt good; instead there was a mean, almost jealous or vindictive edge attached to the emotion. He quickly shook it off - there was no reason Elle's indifference to Eric's feelings should make him feel like this - and greeted her as calmly and politely as ever. "Good afternoon, Elle."

A spark of animation that hadn't been there before lit up her eyes. "Hey yourself. So what's on the menu for today?"

"You tell me - I would guess you ate more of it than I did." He picked up her bag as always and led her out of the lunchroom, but came to an abrupt halt just before they reached building four.

Elle stopped when he did as though connected to him by invisible strings, frowning in confusion. "Why aren't we going in?"

"I'm not going to class today."

Her frown deepened. "Why not?"

"There's a blood drive in Port Angeles later this week, and my older brothers remembered from when they took this class that Mr. Banner likes to do blood typing around the same time - _that's_ what's on today's menu."

"And...?"

"I don't do very well with blood," Edward admitted with a sheepish grin, "hence the ditching. Besides, it's healthy to ditch class now and then."

"Because if you had to sit through it every day you'd go crazy?"

"Exactly. Since we're so much in agreement, would you...care to ditch as well?" He hadn't planned on asking her that; the words just popped out faster than he could talk himself into forcing them back. Edward mentally kicked himself. He was getting _much_ too fond of this girl's company.

A huge smile spread over Elle's face, her eyes sparkling with mischief. "Hell yeah!"

Unfortunately the bottom fell out at that moment. Dark clouds had hovered low overhead all day; now they split open, dumping bucketfuls of precipitation on Edward's and Elle's heads. The latter shrieked and darted inside. Edward went in after her, followed a trail of water droplets to the door of the girls' restroom, and stopped. "Elle?"

###

Elle gripped the sink's edges with both hands, so hard her knuckles turned white, and bit her lip to keep from screaming as she lost control. The water had caught her off guard - if only Edward hadn't distracted her she could've gotten a grip on herself like she did every time prior to showering. But she'd lapsed for just a _couple damn seconds_, allowing that blasted rain to call up the sparks from deep inside her and set them crackling over her skin.

_SON OF A BITCH!_

It was over mercifully soon - just a second or so, though it felt more like a century. Elle slumped over the sink, panting.

Someone knocked on the bathroom door and called, "Elle? Are you all right?"

Edward. Sounding concerned. Damn. Elle closed her eyes, letting her head rest against the mirror for a short moment before gathering her scattered self-possession, straightening up, and endeavoring to look like there was nothing wrong with her as she pulled the door wide open and gave Edward her brightest smile. "I'm fine."

"Good." He stood there motionless as a statue, watching her face intently.

Elle sighed. "Well, get in here already." When he showed no immediate sign of moving, she seized a fistful of his shirt and yanked, forcing him to either step toward her or have his clothing torn off. He knew Alice would never forgive him for that - not to mention that it struck him as rather unseemly to be walking around in a ripped shirt - so he gave in to the pressure. There really was no choice.

That didn't make him any more comfortable with where said pressure brought him. "But-but...this is the girls' room! I'm not supposed to be in here!"

"Nobody'll know you're in here if you shut up. Or you can keep yelling and get us caught."

"I was not yell-"

Elle hushed him by pressing the index finger of her free hand to his lips while maintaining her hold on his shirt with her other hand and walking backward, tugging him with her like a pull-toy. Edward was too stunned to resist. In all his years (of which he had a _lot_ more than most people) he'd never been touched this way. In the time of his human life it would have been quite improper; in his life as a vampire no human was ever willing to get close enough to touch him, and _nobody_, human or vampire, had ever been allowed. Until now.

Okay, so he hadn't exactly _allowed_ Elle, either...yet he wasn't complaining. Even rain-soaked she was so _warm_ - he could feel her warmth through the thin cotton material of his shirt where she held it bunched up close to his chest, and her finger against his lips... _Oh God!_ He turned his head away and detached her hand from his shirt _very_ quickly, unsure if he trusted himself to touch her even that tiny, necessary bit.

She wouldn't release him so easily, though; she took a step forward when he backed up, keeping the same scant three inches between them. "You okay, Edward?"

"I..." He forced himself to look away from those too-innocent-for-comfort-even-though-she-completely-knew-what-she-was-doing-to-him gray eyes, and his gaze landed on the thing that had distracted him from Elle's mental outburst of profanity minutes earlier: her mouth. "You're bleeding."

"Excuse me?"

"Your lower lip is bleeding," Edward repeated.

Elle swiped a fingertip over her lip; it came away smeared crimson and pink from her blood and lip gloss. "Oh. Shit."

Edward wished she hadn't said that - such an ugly word shouldn't come out of so pretty a mouth as hers. _Wait, did I just think that Elle's mouth is pretty? _ He began to think spending an entire hour alone with her _sans_ the distraction of Mr. Banner's lessons might be a very bad idea. She affected him so strangely...

"D'you ditch class often?" She spoke to his reflection in the mirror while reapplying her lip gloss.

"Sometimes. When the weather permits it I usually go hiking with my family."

"Neat, I guess - if you go for that stuff. But I meant, what were you going to do today instead of going to biology?"

"Listen to a CD in my car," Edward answered promptly. "I take it that's now off the menu?"

"Unless it quits raining in the next five seconds, yeah."

Edward recalled Mike Newton's joke about Elle being aquaphobic. Perhaps it wasn't such a joke after all. "You violently dislike the water, don't you?"

"We all have our little quirks," she said wryly. "You don't do blood, I don't do water."

"I'd say avoiding water is odder than avoiding blood, though - plenty of people get sick at the sight of blood." He didn't happen to be one of those people, but she didn't need to know that.

"Are you saying I'm a freak?" Elle's eyes narrowed slightly.

Edward laughed. "Trust me, I am the last person who should be calling _you_ a freak. Though you are rather unusual," he added as an afterthought. Elle asked if he meant that in a good way or a bad way, so he explained, "You've probably noticed that me and mine are universally shunned in this school, yet you...won't stay away from me, and ignore-" he caught himself on the point of saying 'the humans' "-everyone else. You aren't like any other person I've known - and I've known a lot. It's easy to people-watch when no one notices you."

"I notice you." _- -'- - -, I pretty much have to. _

"Why is that?" Of course Edward knew why every other girl he'd ever met had noticed him - vampires were designed to be physically attractive to their prey, which over the years had made him an unwilling object of infatuation for a number of girls like Jessica and Lauren. They obsessed over him for a while and then, when he made it clear he didn't return their interest, fell effortlessly into the common pattern of treating him like a pariah. But again, Elle was different; she didn't have a crush, she just seemed to want to hang out.

Elle shrugged. "I notice you because you don't fit in. You're different - so am I."

"Not different in the same way I am," Edward whispered. Elle might be weird, but she was no monster.

"Wanna bet? We're more alike than you think we are."

"Can we please talk about something else now?"

Hiding her disappointment took some work. She'd been on the verge of a breakthrough with him, she was sure of it, but she'd pushed too hard too fast, and he'd shied away. _Another day, then. _ She changed the subject. "I'm gonna kill Jessica."

"Because she talks too much?" He made it sound like a guess so as not to give away that he knew what Elle had been thinking during lunch.

"Yes! Do you realize she can yammer on even while she _eats_? It's like she doesn't need to breathe or swallow - nothing human can do that, so she must be something else. She's evil. She has to die." She said this very coolly and rationally, as if stating an incontrovertible fact.

Edward was delighted with his human companion's eccentricity - talking to her was the most fun he'd had in decades. Keeping a perfectly straight face, he responded with equal seriousness. "Are any of our other classmates evil?"

"Mike Newton," Elle said immediately.

"Mike Newton? Impossible. He's one of the most ordinary people in Forks."

"That's the problem - he's _too_ ordinary. You just know it's a cover act and he's really plotting to, I don't know, destroy the American economy or something. It's the normal-looking ones you've gotta watch out for."

"And the ones who joke about murder. That could be a sign of sociopathic tendencies."

"Hmm... I actually have been diagnosed as a sociopath, you know." _With paranoid delusions - can't forget that one. Stupid shrinks. _

Secretly, Edward wondered whether her shrinks were really that far off the mark; but no, she did not seriously think Mike Newton was evil. Just a joke, courtesy of a vivid imagination. Funny girl. "Well, I have something of a god complex. Odd thing for us to have in common, being psychologically troubled."

"At least the kink in your brain is relatively harmless. For all you know, _I_ could be a serial killer."

There was no joking tint to Elle's thoughts now. Edward quickly sized her up - her body was toned but not muscular; her petite frame couldn't pack enough force to hurt anyone larger than a five-year-old. Nevertheless, he played along. "Yes, you could be. Now that I know your dirty little secret, I suppose you'll have to do away with me."

Elle seemed to be giving it serious consideration. "Nope, I don't think I will," she said at last. "You're more fun alive, and I'm not finished with you yet."

They were standing very close together now. Edward moved closer, backing Elle up to the wall, and pinned her there by putting both hands on either side of her.

"Hey, what're you doing?" One minute everything had been fine, the next Elle's new toy had turned the tables on her, trapped her. Her heart raced as she looked up into his eyes - almost black today. She had never been this close to a guy (Daddy didn't count) outside the facility she called home. Was this how they behaved when they weren't in a cell? She wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

Instead of answering - not a good idea since Edward didn't _know_ what he was doing - he asked a question of his own. "Are you afraid?" It was one thing for her not to fear him when they were in a crowded classroom - no number of humans stood a chance against a vampire, but crowds made humans feel safe. It was another thing for her to be unafraid when they were completely alone.

"Of you? No."

She was telling the truth. Edward sighed. "Good. I don't want you to be uncomfortable with me...but I don't know what I _do_ want with you."

Elle knew or was supposed to know exactly what she wanted with him, but at that moment the Company was the furthest thing from her mind. All she was thinking was that she'd have to take drastic measures to show Edward who was boss if he didn't let her go in the next few seconds, yet at the same time she wanted them to stay right where they were. She couldn't tell him any of this, so she said nothing.

In the silence, a new 'voice' intruded on Edward's consciousness, providing an unwelcome distraction from the blonde. _...happens to one every year... _Why_ Mr. Banner insists on blood typing... Huge mess to clean up... _

A student had vomited in the biology classroom, and a female teacher who happened to be passing by had decided to help clean up the mess while Mr. Banner escorted the unfortunate boy to the nurse's office. Now Mrs. Greely was heading to the nearest source of paper towels - which happened to be the girls' room. And Edward had been too absorbed by Elle to notice her approach until it was too late for them to get out unseen. _Dammit. _

Mrs. Greely pushed open the door and squawked in surprise when she saw the restroom's other occupants. "Mr. Cullen! _What are you doing in here_?"

**Uh-oh, busted!**

**I especially enjoyed the part where Elle suggested she might be a serial killer only for Edward to brush it off because in the world as he knows it, petite, pretty blondes don't kill people. So there's the two of them together, and they're both killers, but neither one knows that about the other. There's also a spark between them as yet unacknowledged by them, as well as something of a struggle for dominance. This chapter took some twists I didn't expect, but I hope it works. **

**P.S. Our dear old horse Taylor died at 6:10 PM today. I got called out to see him one last time right after finishing the above note as he was in bad shape and the vet had been called. When he arrived he said there was nothing more to be done for Taylor and the kindest thing to do would be to put him to sleep. Until Taylor's grave is dug and body is buried I might be moderately busy, and once the shock wears off I don't know if I'll even feel like writing for a while. Thank you for understanding if I take longer than usual to update. **


	6. Consequences

**Once again I find myself begging for your forgiveness because I've procrastinated with finishing a chapter. I'm getting a strange sense of déjà vu here... If you review I promise not to get distracted writing Merlin oneshots for awhile! How's that? **

Chapter 6: Consequences

Edward moved away from Elle, mind racing. This was one eventuality he'd never prepared for; in all the times he'd ditched class he'd never been caught, nor had he expected that he ever would be. Certainly he'd never anticipated getting caught _here_, of all places. What could he say that would explain why he was in the _girls'_ room?

Elle very helpfully said, "We were cutting biology, and it was raining too hard to get to Edward's car so we decided we could make out just as well in here."

The teacher's lips pursed into a heavily disapproving grimace. "I see. Both of you, to Principal Green's office." She led the way, forgetting all about the vomit on Mr. Banner's classroom floor and her paper towel-fetching mission. Elle and Edward followed in her wake, the former traipsing along as if she didn't have a care in the world, the latter wondering how he had found himself in this mess and thoroughly humiliated when he imagined what his siblings would say. He didn't even want to think about Carlisle's and Esme's reactions.

Mr. Green was astonished to see a Cullen in his office; in all the years they'd attended Forks High none of the five Cullen kids had ever had a single instance of less than perfect behavior. He quickly deduced that it must be the new girl's fault. You only needed to look in those eyes of hers to know she was trouble. He pressed his fingertips together in a steeple shape and peered sternly at the two miscreants over the top of his reading glasses. "Will you tell me why you chose not to attend your biology lesson today?"

"They were blood typing today," the girl - what was her name again? Belle? - replied. "Blood makes Edward sick, and he was too embarrassed to go in there and ask to be excused, so he thought it'd be better to just skip class altogether. I was just keeping him company. That's what friends are for, right?" She smiled angelically and batted her mascara-caked lashes.

_Oh yes, definitely trouble._ Mr. Green almost felt sorry for the Cullen boy. "Is this true, Mr. Cullen?"

Edward dropped his gaze and fidgeted, looking ashamed. "Yes, sir. I asked Elle to stay with me - it's entirely my fault." _How dare he blame this on her? As if she coerced me into doing anything I didn't want to!_ Now, with another person there to act as a buffer between them, it was easy to downplay how wrongfooted, how not-perfectly-in-control, he'd felt while alone with her. And skipping class _had_ been his idea; he wasn't about to let Elle take the brunt of Mr. Green's disapprobation for that.

"Well..." The principal was taken aback. "Be that as it may, while there may be extenuating circumstances for your not going to class, I simply can't overlook Mrs. Greely catching you in the girls' restroom, or...what you went in there to do." It seemed he couldn't bring himself to say 'making out' - the idea obviously discomfited him even more than it did Edward. "That sort of behavior leaves the school liable for all sorts of lawsuits: improper conduct, sexual harassment-"

"Hey!" Elle cut in indignantly. "Nothing sexual happened! There was no harassment either," she tacked on as an afterthought.

Mr. Green looked like he'd sucked on a lemon. "Thank you, Miss Bishop. Now, you will both receive hour-long detentions tomorrow for skipping class. Mr. Cullen, you will serve an additional hour for being in the wrong restroom and for persuading the young lady to play hooky with you. Miss Bishop, _you_ will serve another thirty minutes for engaging in indecent behavior on school grounds."

"So, Edward has detention for two hours and I have an hour and a half?"

"Correct, Miss Bishop."

"Why couldn't you just say that? You get that big a kick outta hearing yourself talk?"

Mr. Green's face turned an unhealthy red; Edward practically felt the man's blood pressure rising, and he actually _could_ smell the blood pooling beneath his skin, making the burn in Edward's throat intensify as venom flooded his mouth. He swallowed it back and seized Elle's wrist, dragging her from the small, too-warm office.

"Hey!" She didn't like this - she nearly had to jog to keep up with Edward, and his tight grip on her hurt. She tried pulling away, to no avail. His hand was like an iron manacle around her wrist. "Hey, stop." He kept going. "I said, _stop_."

Something stung Edward's hand, causing him to let go of Elle the way a human would drop an object that held a static charge and shocked them. He whirled to face her, but she didn't seem to have felt it; when she asked what the hell that was, she was referring to their hasty exit from Mr. Green's office. "We needed to get out of there before he gave you more time in detention."

"Would he have done that?"

"Quite possibly - you nearly caused him to have a stroke."

"Because I pointed out that he's way too fond of the sound of his own voice? The guy's a total tarantula - _and_ a sanctimonious prick!"

"Elle!" Edward wasn't sure whether to be scandalized or amused. "He's only doing his job."

"Doesn't make him any less of a tarantula. I mean come _on_, an extra hour of detention just 'cause you were in the wrong bathroom? Give me a break! The way he carried on you'd think you'd raped me or something."

"I believe there are more severe penalties for rape - it usually gets one detained considerably longer than an hour. In any case, you were the one who told Mr. Green we went in that bathroom to make out. Why did you say that?"

Elle shrugged. "You had me backed up against the wall - you know that's what it looked like. Did you want me to say we went in there to smoke or get high? Isn't that what most teenagers do when they blow off classes?"

"Some do, but not me. Do you?"

She scoffed. "Hello, homeschooled most of my life. Daddy hardly ever let me out of the freaking house. Where would I ever get my hands on drugs or cigarettes?"

There she went with her father again; he sounded like quite a dictator. Suddenly Edward found himself worrying that he might have gotten Elle into very deep trouble. "Will he be angry with you if he finds out what you did today?" He doubted Mr. Bishop would learn that from Elle, but she just might have made Mr. Green mad enough to call her dad.

"Nah, he won't care. Blood typing isn't something he thinks I need to know, and he never gives a crap what I do outside my...learning."

Something odd happened then: Elle normally said exactly what she was thinking (this frankness was one of Edward's favorite things about her), but this time there was a slight disparity between her words and her thoughts. When she said 'learning' - after a split second's hesitation - she thought 'training'. Edward didn't know what to make of this. Then she resumed speaking, and he filed it away in the back of his mind in order to devote his full attention to what she was saying now. Pondering what she might've meant by thinking 'training' would give him something to occupy his mind at night while he waited for her to go to bed.

"How about you? Will your dad kick your ass when he finds out what _you_ did?"

Edward bristled. "Carlisle," he said stiffly, "has never laid a hand on me. How could you even think such a thing? Wait..." Something truly horrible had just occurred to him. "Does _your_ father...?"

"What? No! I didn't mean _that_ kind of ass-kicking! I just meant, y'know, the whole 'you're such a disappointment to me' lecture that makes you feel like dirt."

"Oh." This information both relieved and saddened Edward. "No, Carlisle and Esme never make me feel like dirt - at least not intentionally. There have been times when I've deserved their scorn, their anger...but even then, they've always been unfailingly kind to me. It accidentally achieved the result you so eloquently described."

"Really?" Elle's curiosity was piqued; except for today, Edward didn't seem like the misbehaving type.

"Oh yes. It's a long story - not one I have time to tell just now." As if on cue, the bell rang. Edward grinned crookedly. "Unless you'd care to ditch our last classes - what's one more when we've already got detention?"

"Thanks, but no thanks - I actually enjoy gym. Plus I've got a feeling you wouldn't tell me what you did that was so bad even if I did."

All trace of humor suddenly left Edward's face, leaving him looking so grim he was almost frightening. "No, I wouldn't. You should go now."

"Sure, okay. Later." Elle didn't waste her breath arguing; she could tell her time with Edward was up. The walls that had come down briefly while they were alone together were back at full force - she wasn't going to make any more progress with him now. She went off to the gym disappointed and frustrated.

If she'd looked back, she would have seen Edward pinching the bridge of his nose as he wrestled with emotions identical to hers. But she didn't.

###

Anyone watching him would have thought Edward was completely enraptured by Mrs. Goff's lecture, but in fact he was more bored than he'd ever been in this class. Thanks to Jasper, his knowledge of the Civil War was greater than his so-called teacher's, and this made the hundred and fifty-third time he'd been forced to study this subject. He took notes on autopilot, while allowing his mind to wander...

...And naturally, it landed on Elle. He wondered if she was having more fun in gym than he was in history, and hoped she was. Then he decided to find out. Reducing his concentration on note-taking to the bare minimum required to continue processing what Mrs. Goff was saying and keep his hand transcribing her words, he used the rest of his prodigious brainpower to extend his telepathy, seeking out Elle's mind among the hundreds of others and locking on to it.

Suddenly he was inside her head, seeing the dodgeball game her class was engaged in through her eyes; although his power did not let him actually experience what she was feeling, he could imagine her satisfaction as she easily dodged or ducked every ball thrown her way, or caught them and threw them back. She nearly always nailed her targets, too.

Then Lauren Mallory jumped out of the path of Mike Newton's ball and 'accidentally' crashed into Elle, knocking her to the floor. Edward, who was picking up the thoughts of Elle's classmates in his periphery, knew she'd done it purposefully and let out a soft growl too low for human ears to detect. Fortunately (for Lauren), Elle seemed unharmed - she jumped to her feet, cheeks flushed a light pink, looking like she could shoot lightning bolts from her eyes. "What the hell was that, Mallory?"

"An accident." Lauren widened her gray eyes - lighter and more watery than Elle's - in an attempt to look innocent.

Elle thought it made Lauren look like the trout she remembered Daddy bringing back from his fishing trips. Those gross dead fish eyes had always disgusted her. A vivid picture - gutting Lauren like one of those trout - flashed across the surface of her imagination, there and gone in a second. She shook it away and growled, "Well, make sure you don't have any more accidents." _I can arrange for you to have a _real _accident if you don't watch it, Mallory. _

They resumed play, but Lauren stayed close to Elle and finally found an opportunity to hiss in her ear, "I heard you got busted ditching biology with Edward Cullen last period."

"And how is that your business?" Elle hissed back.

"The Cullens don't hang out with anyone - not ever. What's Edward Cullen doing with _you_?"

"I'm just cooler than the other girls he knows, I guess." Elle's fist shot out, sending an incoming ball soaring back over the net to land a solid hit on Katie Marshall.

"Well I don't think you're all that-"

Elle didn't particularly care to know Lauren's opinion of her - she could guess it well enough, having learned all about girls like Lauren from TV - and decided it was high time the other blonde shut up. She grabbed a stray ball off the ground and lobbed it in what appeared to be a wildly miscalculated shot; it bounced off a stack of bleachers folded against the wall and rebounded boomerang-style, hitting Lauren squarely on the back of her head. She sat out the rest of the game, and left for the nurse's office before the final bell, as she had felt a roughly egg-sized lump forming where the ball had struck her.

###

Edward was appalled. Not just because Elle had bounced a ball off Lauren's head - that was almost understandable after Lauren had knocked her down - but because she'd given it no pause for thought at all. He hadn't seen very many people act on pure impulse that way. Yet another example of how Elle Bishop's mind seemed to be wired differently.

He was just glad no one had realized she'd meant her ball to hit Lauren; she was in enough trouble already.

_Later that night_

Rosalie waited until Edward was safely occupied with his piano before going upstairs to Carlisle's office. "I need to speak with you - privately, please."

"Of course." Carlisle lowered his voice so the others wouldn't hear it through Edward's music and gestured for her to close the door. "What's troubling you?"

"It's about Edward. You know he got caught ditching class today...with that girl." Carlisle frowned but said nothing, so Rose went on. "Humans _never_ catch Edward, and-"

Carlisle held up a hand to silence her. "I've already asked him about the incident; he told me that he would not have stayed in the building except that Elle refused to go outside once it began raining." His brows knit together in consternation - he was as much at a loss to explain this bizarre behavior as everyone else. "Such a strong aversion to water is an eccentricity, no doubt about that, but a harmless one, I think."

"Well, eccentricities aside, _I'm_ not so convinced this Elle Bishop is harmless! She came out of nowhere and made herself Edward's best friend, and what do we really know about her?"

"She didn't come out of nowhere, she moved here when her father's employer relocated him. I believe he works for a paper company."

"Yeah, this father of hers that nobody's ever seen," Rosalie muttered. "Look, I just don't think Edward should be associating with a human so publicly. Forgetting about what happens if things end badly with his little friend, she's clearly a bad influence."

"You really think anyone could be a bad influence on _me_? I suppose I should be flattered."

Rosalie spun around, startled. "Edward, I-I didn't notice you stop playing."

"Perhaps you would have if your mind had been less exclusively focused on your resentment towards Elle. It isn't her fault she happens to still be human, Rosalie-"

"This has nothing to do with _that_," she snarled. "I'm just trying to get someone to wake up and see that your little human girlfriend is a hundred miles of bad road!"

"What will I have to do to persuade you that Elle is not my girlfriend?"

"Stay away from her," Rosalie suggested.

Edward's jaw clenched. "I won't do that."

Before Rosalie could say something that would escalate the situation into a full-blown fight, Carlisle intervened. "That's enough, both of you. Edward, no one is asking you to give up your friend - in fact Esme thinks socializing with someone outside this family will be good for you-"

"She wants the human to be his _mate_," Rosalie hissed.

Ignoring his daughter's outburst, Carlisle addressed her as if she hadn't spoken. "But your concerns are not completely unfounded. Therefore, I propose a simple compromise - Edward, would you consider limiting your extracurricular interaction with Elle? You can still see her, just...try to be more judicious about it, please." It was the nicest way he could come up with of saying 'quit spying on her at night'.

"Of course, if that will make you feel better." Edward would do whatever his father asked of him, and this was not an unreasonable request. After more than a century of keeping to himself, he realized that he couldn't expect his family to immediately be okay with him having a human friend - especially since vampires, as a rule, did not hang with humans. A vampire with enough self-control might keep a human as a pet of sorts, but this was more like a human keeping a dog or a cat than an actual friendship.

And, he tried to convince himself, giving up his nighttime visits to Elle's apartment was not such a huge sacrifice; her hyperawareness of when she was being watched meant he could only do so after she'd fallen asleep, and she slept in pretty much the same position all night long. Also, she hardly ever dreamed, giving him nothing to listen to telepathically. She didn't offer much in the way of entertainment, really, when she wasn't awake. _Now what am I going to do all night?_

**Next chapter: Edward tries to stay away from Elle outside of class - will Alice let him? I may also work in something about the spring dance or the kids' field trip to La Push. Hello werewolves! **


	7. Impulse

**Another chapter with an extended Elleward scene, yay! Enjoy it while it lasts, 'cause ch8 might be kinda short on E/E interaction, which makes me sad. But I didn't take forever updating this time, which makes me happy!**

Chapter 7: Impulse

True to his word, Edward spent the rest of the night at home. The next day, however, he walked Elle to biology as usual. If he had to limit their interaction to mollify Rosalie, he was determined to make the most of the time he was allowed to be with her. Rosalie scowled as he made his way across the cafeteria to the table where Elle waited for him. Emmett cheered him on via thought-speak, and Alice smiled so broadly it was a wonder her face didn't crack.

Edward ignored them all; whether they were disapproving or supportive, none of them understood the connection between him and Elle. He didn't understand it himself - she wasn't a sister to him like Alice or Rosalie, yet he was positive that he did not, _could not_, want her as his mate either, no matter how much it would please Esme if he did - he just knew that he felt better, more alive, with Elle than he'd ever felt in the human world, and he resented Rose trying to keep them apart.

"Looking forward to detention?" she asked him as they walked to the lab.

He had to laugh at her tone. "Are you?"

She shrugged. "Don't know - I've never been detained before."

"I believe it's meant to be an unpleasant experience."

"Unpleasantness is relative." Having to get up at five AM for physical training - now _that_ was unpleasant. Staying at school an extra hour and a half sounded like a breeze in comparison...especially if she got to spend that time with Edward. _What? Did I seriously just think that? _Her eyes darted to Edward's face just in time to catch him trying to hide a crooked smile. _Gah!_ She would have to remember this since it could be evidence that Edward was a telepath, but if he was then she needed to think about something else. Whatever Maury Parkman had done that day he'd fiddled around in her mind prior to her departure from the facility, she had no desire to test its limits.

Fortunately a new topic for thought arrived in the form of Eric Yorkie. "Hey Elle!"

Grateful for the distraction he provided, she smiled and greeted him with a good deal more warmth than he'd previously inspired in her. "Hey, Eric. What's up?"

Encouraged by her apparent friendliness, he came up and sat on the edge of her table, angling his body so as to exclude her lab partner from the conversation. "The weather's supposed to be nice this weekend, so Mike's planning a trip to the beach at La Push. You'll come, right? It's _La Push_, baby - say yes." Elle agreed - from the way Eric talked, she guessed La Push might be something special and didn't want to miss out - and Eric turned and flashed a double thumbs-up to the room at large.

"She's coming?" Jessica asked incredulously. "For real?"

"Oh, _joy_," Lauren muttered.

"Told you she would," Eric said triumphantly to Jessica. To Mike, Tyler, and Austin he said, "Pay up, suckers," and held out his hand, into which they each slapped a ten-dollar bill, grumbling as they did so.

Now Elle was beginning to think she'd been conned in some way. "You bet those guys that you could get me to come on your little beach trip?" She got up, intending to show Eric what happened to people who messed with her.

He seemed not to notice the dangerous glint in her eyes. "Nah, I was gonna invite you anyway, and then those meatheads bet me ten bucks that you'd say no - shows what they know. I told 'em even you had to hang out sometime." He slung an arm over Elle's shoulders for a playful one-armed hug.

She was thrown, just like she had been in the bathroom with Edward yesterday. What was up with these Forks boys and physical contact? Thanks to her toys - ah, Level Five inmates - back home, she was no stranger to touching guys, but _they_ weren't allowed to touch _her_. Forks' male population was entirely too grabby. She slipped away from Eric and sat down just as Mr. Banner entered and sent Eric to his seat. _Ha._

###

Edward silently seethed all through biology, and might have kept it up longer than that if Alice hadn't grabbed him the minute he set foot outside the classroom. "Excuse us," she said to Elle. "I need a word with my dear brother."

"Take him - and don't bother giving him back." Contrary to certain Company psychiatrists' stupid analyses of her character - some ridiculous BS about her being insensitive to the feelings of others - Elle was perfectly aware that Edward was upset with her. She even suspected that his aggravation had been brought on by her accepting Eric's invitation. Well, if that was the case, he could just go ahead and stew over it; she wasn't interested in Eric, not even a little bit, and he should know that by now.

Of course, she reminded herself as she marched off down the hall, she wasn't _really_ interested in Edward either - she was only pretending to be until she'd gained his trust, and then as soon as he'd told or shown her what about his family was special enough to have caught the Company's interest, it would be _hasta la vista_ Eddie. Or maybe not; she could always visit him once he was safely locked up in the facility. He'd be glad of the company, and Adam Monroe had been starting to bore her before she left anyway. Cheered by the thought of having a new toy, she made her way to the gym with a new spring in her step.

Until then she'd keep playing the part of a mostly normal teenage girl, but nowhere did it say she had to baby Edward when he was acting like a jealous idiot.

###

Meanwhile, Alice was giving Edward a dressing-down on this exact subject. "Socializing with their peers is something every adolescent human does at one time or another, Edward, even odd ones like Elle. So what if it was Eric who asked her? It's not like she agreed to go on a date with him, and now she probably thinks you're a jealous idiot!"

"I am not _jealous_, Alice-"

"Jasper says differently."

"Oh, does he?" Edward glanced around but saw no sign of the empathic vampire, nor did he pick up any thoughts from him. "Where is he?"

"Not here - he decided not to hang around after I saw that you were gonna be in a bad mood, which you need to get over. I'm sure Elle doesn't like Eric."

Edward sighed. "She _should_ like Eric - he'd be a more suitable friend than me. He could be more than a friend... More than I could ever be to her."

_Aha! It's about time he admitted how much he cares- Oops! _

To Alice's surprise, Edward didn't get angry. Instead he said dispiritedly, "Yes, I care about her. More than I should. Perhaps I might even have been able to love her someday, if I were human or she were a vampire."

Alice's eyes widened; it wasn't much, but a 'might have loved her if things were different' was _something_. In fact, coming from Edward, it was a lot - 'perhaps' and 'someday' notwithstanding. It was still more than anyone else had ever got from him. "So, just because you aren't human and she's not a vampire, you're going to let a little thing like that come between you and the only person who's not a parent or sibling figure to you that you've ever...cared for?"

"It's hardly a little thing, Alice. Vampires don't mate with humans, you know that."

Something flashed through Alice's mind in response - not an actual thought, really, just a fleeting ghost of an idea that she put out of her head before it was completely there, too fast for Edward to read it. "Look, you'll see her in detention soon, and if you're smart you'll apologize for getting in a snit for no good reason."

This was definitely not anything Edward wanted to hear. It was also good advice. However, following it turned out to be more difficult than he'd anticipated. There were no other detainees in the room, and the teacher who was supposed to be 'supervising' them had fallen asleep at her desk; the problem was Elle, who hadn't said a word to Edward since she came into the room. In fact, she refused to even _look_ at him.

At last he very obviously and unnecessarily cleared his throat to get her attention. "Elle?"

"Oh, are you speaking to me again?" she asked icily, still not looking at him.

"Yes, I-"

"Well too bad, 'cause _I'm_ not talking to _you_!" She pulled a textbook out of her bag and opened it, holding it in front of her face, creating an effective barrier between them since Edward's desk was turned so that it faced hers head-on.

Okay, this was a setback. Hopefully she would still listen to him. "What if I apologize?"

No response from the blonde.

"What if I admit to having behaved childishly?"

This earned an irritable-sounding rustle of pages. Progress, however small.

"What if I promise not to do it again?"

She finally answered, albeit in a sullen mutter. "That might work, _if_ you really mean it."

"Then I'm very sorry," he said sincerely. "I acted like an idiot, and I promise I'll try to do better next time."

Elle lowered her book and gave him a bright smile. "Okay, I'll forgive you."

"Thank you." Edward smiled back at her, letting a hint of the relief he felt show through.

"So...did Eric inviting me to La Push make you jealous or something?" Apparently when she decided to forgive someone, she then put her disagreement with them completely out of her head; her tone was teasing and suggestive, not at all accusatory.

"I suppose so." _At least according to Jasper it did._

"Edward..." Elle shook her head, giving him an almost pitying look. "I don't care about Eric. I only like you."

This made Edward happy for a second; then his expression shifted to a murderous scowl. "But now Eric thinks you like _him_ - so do those boys he made that bet with, and you made Jessica wonder..." He let his words trail off there, realizing he was on the verge on revealing his familiarity with the inner workings of their classmates' minds.

"And you care what they think? Since when?"

"I don't like them thinking of you and Eric as a couple," Edward ground out. It was true; he knew he couldn't be with Elle himself, but even so, picturing her with anyone else made him feel strange, like something was stabbing deep into his nonworking heart, just to let him know it was still there.

"Ah. But you know, _we're_ not together either," Elle reminded him in her typical blunt fashion.

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose. "I am well aware of that fact."

"So you've really got no reason to care what people say about me and Eric," she concluded, "unless you like me more than you let on. Besides, you'll be there to make sure Eric behaves himself." Silence from Edward. "You _won't_ be there?"

"I'm quite certain I wouldn't be welcome," he said drily. Not that he cared whether the humans wanted him there or not; if it were a simple matter of possibly offending those children, he wouldn't hesitate to show up uninvited. Unfortunately there was another, more compelling reason why he couldn't crash the trip to La Push.

Elle thought this over for maybe two seconds; being a largely impulsive creature, two seconds was about as long as she was willing to spend in contemplation. "Oh. Ouch. Well, I'll make it up to you - we'll hang out sometime, just me and you."

"That might be a problem. After we were caught ditching biology yesterday, some of my family got the idea that you're a bad influence."

"That's not fair! Ditching was _your_ idea!" Elle crossed her arms over her chest and put on an expression somewhere between a scowl and a pout.

_Righteous indignation really does look adorable on her... What the hell? Where did that come from?_ Edward sighed and dropped his head into his hands, as exasperated with himself as with his family. "Nevertheless, Rosalie says that our time together outside of school ought to be limited."

"So, screw Rosalie. Who gives a crap what she says?"

"Ordinarily I wouldn't, but she's convinced Carlisle that she's right-"

"And you do give a crap what Carlisle says," Elle finished.

"Yes, now would you please quit using such vulgar language?"

Elle gave him one of those 'what's up with you?' looks. "Hey Edward, anyone ever tell you you're kind of a tight-ass?"

"Emmett does. All the time," he admitted with a wry grin. "I suppose you're going to try and cure me of it?"

"Duh, what do you think I've _been_ doing? Getting detention was a start; now we'll take it to the next level."

"There's another level after detention?" Edward groaned. "I'm going to go to hell because of you, aren't I?" _Of course I was already headed that way...and I'm sure I haven't helped my case lately, endangering this girl just because I'm too selfish to give up her company... _

"Look on the bright side - if you're going to hell because of me, then I'm probably going there with you. Now, about that next level... Your family thinks you shouldn't hang out with me, so I guess we could sneak out tonight..." She trailed off, considering.

Edward decided to stop her before she concocted any elaborate plans for misbehavior. "I'm afraid I can't do that, Elle."

"Why not? Your parents have to go to bed sometime."

_As a matter of fact, they don't. _He sidestepped that delicate issue by pointing out, "So do you."

"Don't worry about me; I can catch up on my sleep in class if I have to."

"Elle!"

"What? Classes are boring enough- But of course _you_ stay awake for all of them, make perfect grades, and get every one of your report cards hung up on the refrigerator." She yawned pointedly. "No sneaking out then - maybe something tamer? Aha, I know! There's that spring dance next weekend - we could go to that."

Edward's eyebrows shot up. "Are you asking me to the dance?" This was a development he doubted even Alice could have foreseen.

Elle shrugged. "Why not? I've always wondered if school dances really are as stupid as they sound." Noticing that Edward looked less than enthusiastic, she asked, "What's the matter? Don't tell me you've got two left feet or something...do you?"

"Oh, I can dance," he assured her, rising to the implied challenge. "Can _you_?"

"I don't know. Maybe?" Another shrug. "I've never had to dance before, okay?"

"You'll be fine," Edward said confidently. "It's all in the leading." Besides, after seeing Elle in gym, he was sure she'd be a good dancer once he'd taught her how; in fact he would have bet on it if Emmett and Jasper had been around.

"Then we're on for next Saturday." She stuck out her hand so they could shake on it.

Edward took it carefully, wrapping his long pianist's fingers around her hand as if he were handling a porcelain figurine, and was momentarily stunned by the sensation of her skin on his. They'd been friends for almost a whole month now, but with the exceptions of her pulling him inside the girls' room and him pulling her out of Mr. Green's office yesterday and the day they met, when she'd rudely knocked on his forehead, he had always kept some physical distance between them, as much as was possible given Elle's total disregard for others' personal space.

Touching her was so amazing - her skin was so warm, so soft, the skeletal structure underneath so exquisitely delicate - that the part of him that was still frozen at seventeen wondered, _Why the hell don't I hold her hand all the time?_

Then the moment passed; they pulled apart, and the control and broadened perspective Edward had gained over a century and change reasserted itself. Of course he couldn't hold her hand - he might crush it, or worse, rip her arm off! No matter how good it felt to touch her, there were more important things than his own gratification: keeping her alive, for instance. And he'd agreed to go to the dance with her, which would mean more touching. _Damn it. _

It was on the tip of his tongue to tell her they should change their plans - he would happily engage in whatever delinquent behavior pleased her as long as it was safe for her - but before he could speak, a timer on the teacher's desk buzzed loudly. Their 'detention monitor', who had in fact been monitoring nothing but the backs of her eyelids for the last hour, jerked awake. "Hey you kids, cut that out!"

"We're not doing anything!" Elle exclaimed indignantly. "We've just been talking, even though we totally could've left and you'd never know-"

"Which we did _not_ do, of course," Edward cut in. The last thing they needed was to get in more trouble for something they hadn't even done.

Luckily the teacher seemed not to have noticed anything past "we've just been talking". She squinted blearily at them and declared that them helping each other with homework was fine, but now it was time for Elle to leave.

"Oh, we weren't doing homework," Elle said cheerfully. "We decided we're going to the spring dance since Edward can't go to La Push with me this weekend. Bye!" She left, doing a quick one-eighty at the door to wave at Edward.

###

Elle received a shock when she got home - Thompson was there. They were supposed to be sharing the apartment, but she hardly ever saw him except for when she reported her progress with Edward to him. She knew nothing of how he spent his time, and to be honest she enjoyed being on her own outside the facility too much to really care, meaning she was not exactly thrilled to find him waiting for her. "What's up?" she asked, working to hide her dismay. "I checked in yesterday, and Company protocol only says I have to do that every other day."

"You only have to report to _me_ every other day, yes, but the higher-ups can check on you whenever they feel like it. We're going to the warehouse - your father wants to speak with you."

**Question: am I moving their relationship along too fast? OK, Edward's still got that 'vampires and humans don't make a good couple' hang-up, and the closest Elle comes to admitting she likes him more than she should is thinking he'd make a fun new plaything (though I think that might be Elle's equivalent to 'I love you') and there won't be any kissing for a few chapters yet. Still, I don't usually write hook-ups in seven chapters. So...too fast, or am I just being paranoid?**


	8. Report

**Another heinously late update. *Sigh* School is back on now, and I'm gonna try to be a better student than I was last semester. Wish me luck and try not to miss me too much; I will continue to write on this story and Revenant whenever I can scrounge up the time. **

Chapter 8: Report

Thompson escorted Elle as far as the door leading into the warehouse's main office, opened it for her, and indicated that she should go in alone. She did, and he closed the door behind her with a _snap_. She sat down at the computer, brought up Primatech's secure multi-location interface, typed in her password, and requested a video chat with R. Bishop.

The computer beeped softly as it connected with the webcam on the computer in Bob's office, and then he appeared onscreen, sitting with his hands folded on his desktop.

Seeing his sternly rigid posture, Elle immediately felt that she must have misbehaved in some way and was now about to be punished for it. _What did I do? _she wondered. _Was I not supposed to run around Port Angeles on my own? But what _else_ am I supposed to do when I'm not in school? I never wanted to come to this stupid soggy dump of a town anyway!_ She swallowed - with some difficulty, her throat feeling abnormally dry and tight - and said, "Hi, Daddy. What's up?"

"That's what I'd like you to tell me, Elle. You've been in Forks almost a month now, and Thompson says you haven't reported any significant progress yet."

"Well, I-"

Bob went on as if Elle hadn't spoken. "Do you have any idea how much preparation went into the Cullen case before we decided to send in a field agent? They've been on our radar for a while now, but we've never been able to figure out exactly what they are - which is what we're counting on you to do."

"The Cullens aren't the easiest people to get to know," Elle blurted. "If you looked up 'antisocial' in a dictionary, it could just have a picture of them."

"Be that as it may, you _have_ to do this, Elle. Now that one of them knows you, it's too late to pull you out and send somebody else." Bob sighed. "You know, I told the other founders that you weren't ready to take on a job this big by yourself-"

Elle bristled. So her father didn't think she was up to this assignment, did he? All those years she'd spent in training, she never seemed to do well enough to satisfy him. She had always assumed this was her fault, even though she was just a child when her training commenced and Bob's expectations for her had been totally unrealistic. _But I'm not a little kid anymore, dammit! _

Meanwhile Bob was still talking; Elle cut him off. "He's a telepath."

"I beg your pardon?" Wrapped up in lecturing Elle, Bob hadn't been listening to her.

"Edward Cullen is a telepath," Elle repeated, trying not to speak through her teeth this time.

"Why didn't you report this sooner?"

"Just found out today. Wanna hear how I did it?" It had been a stroke of pure genius, if Elle said so herself (and she did) - way too brilliant not to brag about. Without waiting for any encouragement from Bob, she launched into her tale.

_Flashback_

Gym had put Elle in a better mood - her team had won two out of three volleyball games, and she found that she enjoyed exercising a lot more when she wasn't being forced to do it at an hour when most sane people weren't even up yet - but the closer she got to the classroom designated as today's detention center, the lower her spirits sank. A whole hour and a half that she could have used for... Well, to be honest, she didn't have any other plans for how she would have preferred to spend her time.

_I could've come up with something._ Instead she would spend it sitting in yet another room with walls painted in that disgusting puke-green shade, with no company except a sure-to-be-crabby teacher and Edward. The really maddening part was, just a couple hours ago she had thought sharing it with him would make detention bearable - fun, even. Then he had to go and screw everything up by acting all anal over Eric.

The problem, Elle reflected as she trudged along the sidewalk between the various buildings comprising Forks High School, was not that Edward had gotten upset over her agreeing to hang out with someone else - Elle thought a little jealous streak might actually be useful for keeping a guy in line - it was the way he acted. He was just so...so..._overbearing_! Like he thought he was the boss of her. No doubt he thought he could get away with it because he happened to be pretty - and with anyone else he probably could. Elle, however, was too fond of having her own way to be dazzled into submission by those smoldering, mysteriously color-changing eyes of his.

###

Five minutes into their detention, Elle realized that the word 'smoldering', when applied to Edward's eyes, was more than just a figure of speech. His stare was so intense that it felt like an actual laser beam burning through her skin. Trying to ignore him was like trying not to scratch a mosquito bite (Elle wasn't that good with self-restraint, so she always clawed at any bug bites she got until they bled). Still, she managed it by staring at the clock, the mathematical formulae written on the chalkboard at the head of the room, the headline on the front page of the newspaper that was drooping in Ms. What's-her-face's slackening grip - anywhere but at Edward. She knew he knew what she was doing; she didn't care. He'd very pointedly ignored her in biology earlier - he deserved to get the same silent treatment he'd given her.

She stuck with that resolution for all of three seconds. Then Edward piped up (using his silkiest, hardest-to-ignore tone of voice), and Elle answered. Even if it was just a knee-jerk reaction. Even if her response was only a rhetorical question - it was obvious he was speaking to her again, seeing as he'd just done so.

He replied that he was.

"Well too bad," she huffed, "'cause _I'm_ not talking to _you_!" _In fact, I shouldn't even have talked to him long enough to tell him I'm not talking to him. Damn it. _She pulled a book out of her bag, opened it at random, and glued her eyes to the page in an effort to distract herself from Edward. Unfortunately the book she'd grabbed turned out to be her trig text, open to a page showing a bunch of different-sized triangles. Boring as hell.

"What if I admit to having behaved childishly?"

He just wasn't going to make it easy to stay mad at him, was he? Elle flipped through her book, searching for a better distraction although she knew nothing in these pages would interest her more than Edward, and found...more triangles. Whoever wrote this book needed a life in the worst kind of way.

"What if I promise not to do it again?"

Inspiration struck Elle with the force of one of her electrical outbursts. All these weeks she'd spent trying to figure out what special ability Edward had, and now in a single second she'd come up with the perfect test to, if not get a conclusive answer, at least eliminate one possibility. Keeping the book in front of her face, Elle thought at him, _That might work, _if_ you really mean it. _She had been told that to a telepath, thoughts were the same as spoken words; if she was right and Edward could read minds, then so long as he didn't see that her lips weren't moving he shouldn't be able to tell that she hadn't said anything out loud.

To her utter delight, he said, "Then I'm very sorry. I acted like an idiot, and I promise I'll try to do better next time."

_YES! _Elle felt like jumping up and dancing. Finally, _finally_, she had successfully unraveled the mystery of Edward Cullen! It was lucky for her he wasn't an empath, or he probably would have wondered why she was so deliriously happy all of a sudden. She decided she could be nice to him again now that he had shown her his ability. Of course he hadn't done it on purpose, but Elle never paused to spot the flaw in her logic; she just thumped her book down and smiled at him. "Okay, I'll forgive you."

He thanked her and returned her smile, flashing his brilliantly white teeth at her.

Not for the first time, Elle noticed how very pretty he was. And he was a telepath like Maury - a useful talent. Daddy would _have_ to let her keep him now.

_End Flashback_

"I did well coming up with that, didn't I, Daddy?" Elle asked after she finished telling Bob an edited version of her story - he didn't need to know everything she'd been thinking during her detention with Edward, since some of it wasn't at all related to her assignment.

"Yes, yes, good for you," Bob said impatiently. "Now, where do you stand on figuring out the other Cullens' abilities?"

Elle couldn't help feeling a bit crestfallen; why did Bob have to act like the fact that she hadn't yet done everything he wanted made what she _had_ accomplished meaningless? Would it kill him to just be proud of her for _one minute_?

Swallowing her disappointment, Elle admitted, "I've got nothing on them yet. But you know, the Cullens really are a pretty standoffish group," she reminded him. "At first it was like pulling teeth to get Edward to even talk to me. He doesn't believe in introducing new friends to his family, either." _Or maybe he just doesn't know to, seeing as I'm the only friend he has. _

"Then you'll just have to tell him you want to meet them, won't you?" Although Bob phrased this as a question, it was clearly an order.

"Yeah...great," Elle said unenthusiastically. She knew asking to meet his family wouldn't go down well; he talked to her about them, but somehow she still got the feeling they were off-limits, or that she was off-limits to them.

"You can manage that, can't you? It shouldn't be that difficult." Translation: _If you can't manage that you're utterly useless, and I'm benching you for real._

"I can absolutely manage that," Elle assured her father. _Like I'd say anything else with him giving me That Look. _"I'm going to the spring dance next Saturday with Edward; I can work on him then."

"You're going to a dance with him?" A familiar disapproving look flickered across Bob's face - for a moment Elle expected him to order her to break her date with Edward - but then his features smoothed into a bland smile. The Company had, after all, sent her to Forks to play Mata Hari; Bob couldn't very well get mad at her when she was just doing her job. "My little girl's first dance." He shook his head wonderingly. "It's hard to believe you've grown up so fast. Seems like only yesterday... Well, have fun. And Elle? _Be careful_."

"Always am."

They ended their teleconference then, having nothing more to say to one another. Elle left the warehouse without Thompson, replaying her conversation with Bob in her head as she meandered down the street. He wanted her to be careful at the dance. Well, that shouldn't be hard - American high school dances were not generally known for being dangerous - unless Bob hadn't meant for her to be careful at the dance, specifically. Maybe he meant that she should be careful with Edward. _Like there's anything dangerous about _him_ - he won't even sneak out at night, for crying out loud! _

So maybe Bob meant something different; maybe he meant that she needed to be careful about getting too close to Edward. Seducing him in order to get information out of him wouldn't be at all frowned upon by the Company - heck, her dad might actually be pleased if she managed to fleece Edward so completely. It would only be a problem if she was so convincing that she started to fall for her own act. _That's it! Daddy's afraid I'll get too involved in this little dating charade. How could he think that? I told him about Edward's telepathy, didn't I? Would I have done that if I cared more about him than about my assignment? Dammit, what do I have to do to prove I'm a good agent? What does he want from me?_

She kicked out at a stray soda can on the ground, feeling angry and frustrated. Discovering Edward's telepathy had thrilled her, but now the thrill was washing away like water down a drain. It wasn't just because Bob had trivialized her success; no, it was more like sharing it with him had somehow taken the shine off her discovery. She'd wanted to keep it to herself awhile - keep Edward to herself. Now she had been reminded that he wasn't hers to keep, that she was only acquiring him for the Company. They might let her play with him from time to time, but they obviously had their own plans for the Cullens - plans she wasn't a part of. She always got things taken away from her, and it wasn't fair!

A low whistle brought her out of her own head and back into the real world; she had wandered out of the warehouse district and was now standing across the street from a bar called One-Eyed Pete's that looked like a popular after-hours destination for the town's lower middle class workmen. The source of the whistling was a lone man who had just dismounted from a motorcycle. "Hey baby," he hollered, "wanna come have a drink with me?" He gestured at the bar's open door.

Elle quickly checked the street for oncoming cars, then jaywalked across to join the man. "They're not gonna let me in there; I'm sixteen. I don't drink anyway."

"Oh." He looked disappointed.

"Nice ride you've got there." Elle ran her hand appreciatively over the motorcycle's leather seat.

"Wanna go for a spin?"

"Love to." Elle had never been on a motorcycle, or even close to one, prior to this evening. She found the speed exhilarating - just what she needed to take her mind off Edward.

**The ending sequence was inspired by a similar scene in the New Moon movie (obviously), just without Jessica there to deliver her monologue. I kinda wish she ****had**** been there, but that would probably end in Elle killing her. Instead she'll have to vent her frustrations on Motorcycle Man. **

**Next chapter: Edward and Elle meet up before she goes to La Push, because I can't go too long without my Elleward fix. Depending on how interesting their interaction is, the La Push trip may or may not get pushed to ch10. **


	9. Uninvited

Chapter 9: Uninvited

_ Beep-beep-beep-beep-beeeeeee-_

Elle zapped the alarm clock, silencing it forever, then rolled over and pulled the covers over her head, her eyes remaining determinedly shut all the while. According to her mental calendar, today was Saturday, so what the hell was that infernal alarm going off for?

Then she remembered: the trip to La Push was today. _Screw that. I don't wanna get up. _ Eric would be disappointed if she didn't show, but it wasn't like she'd be standing him up on a real _date_ or anything. Besides, what did it matter if she stood up Eric Yorkie?

She had almost drifted back into sleep when the buzzer sounded, letting her know there was someone at the door. Her eyes flew open. _Maybe if I just stay here, they'll think nobody's home and go away._

But no, that irritating buzz sounded again, and she didn't know where the buzzer was located - she couldn't fry it. Elle hauled herself out of her nice, soft bed - for once wishing Thompson was there so he could take care of the unwanted visitor instead of her - and stumbled to the door, grumbling with every step. If it was Eric outside, he was going to meet an untimely end. She undid the deadbolt, wrenched the door open, and came face to face with Edward Cullen.

"Good morning, Elle."

"It was till you woke me up," she snarled.

Being growled at did nothing to dampen Edward's apparent good mood; in fact, that crooked smile of his actually widened a little. "May I come in?"

Elle grunted and stepped back from the doorway. Edward interpreted this as an invitation to enter and waltzed right in. "What are you doing here?" she demanded once he was inside, closing the door behind him with a bit more force than necessary.

"I thought I could give you a ride to Newton's. That is where you're meeting the others, correct?"

"Yup, then we're all driving to La Push in Mike's minivan. But you know, I could've gotten there by myself - I do have my own car."

"Do you know where Newton's Olympic Outfitters is, though? It's a sporting goods store, and you've always struck me as more of an indoor girl."

"That's why God invented a little thing called GPS - ever heard of it?"

Edward admitted defeat with a wry chuckle. "Okay, you got me. Maybe I just wanted to see you? Is that permissible?"

"Like what you see?"

Edward examined Elle from head to toe, taking in her messy hair and sleepwear, which consisted of a pink tank top and white shorts dotted with tiny red hearts. "I do, actually. It's a good look for you."

"Glad you think so-" Not that Elle cared whether he objected to her heart-patterned shorts; if he didn't want to see her in her pj's he shouldn't have dropped in on her so early "-but I really oughta get dressed." She pirouetted and strutted off to her room runway model-style, making sure Edward got the full benefit of seeing her extremely _short_ shorts from the back.

He swiftly dropped his gaze to the floor, more grateful than ever that he was the only one in his family with mind reading abilities and hoping very much that Alice hadn't foreseen this particular moment. If Emmett found out, he'd never hear the end of it.

###

Elle reappeared clad in a thick green sweater, jeans, and her signature yellow plaid rubber boots. "The toaster oven broke last night," she informed him, "so I was gonna go out for breakfast. Come with?"

"Of course."

They left the apartment building together and Edward automatically headed for his Volvo, but Elle grabbed his arm to stop him. "Where we're going's close enough that we can just walk so long as it doesn't start raining."

"It isn't going to rain," Edward assured her. Alice had promised a cloudy day with no precipitation - perfect weather for a vampire and his aquaphobic companion.

"Cool." Elle slid her hand down Edward's arm to his hand and laced her fingers through his. She noticed that his skin still felt abnormally cold and hard but chose not to comment. This, along with disturbingly silent, graceful movements and eyes that went from black to gold and back again, was simply a part of Edward. Or maybe it meant he had some kind of secondary ability - impenetrable skin or something. She would have to remember that for possible future investigation; evolved humans with more than one ability were incredibly rare. The Company would be very interested...

"What are you thinking about?"

Elle snapped back into the here and now and saw Edward looking at her strangely, a mixture of curiosity and frustration in his eyes (dark amber today). She gave him her most innocent smile. "Nothing, why?"

"Your mind went somewhere else a moment ago." There was an almost accusatory note in Edward's tone.

"And you know what goes on in my mind?"

"Of course not," he said, more sharply and defensively than was warranted. "How could anyone know that?"

"Beats the heck outta me." Elle fell silent then, recognizing that she was treading on the edge of dangerous ground. It was a _very_ good thing that she'd managed to conceal her discovery of Edward's ability from him; if she hadn't, he probably would've run off, detention or no.

Neither spoke for about a minute - the approximate time it took Elle to get fed up with the tension between them. "Look," she said huffily, "if you're just gonna be all quiet and brooding you might as well go home - sit in a corner in your room or something." She started to pull away.

Edward held her hand tighter, refusing to let her move an inch further away from him. "Don't be like that, Elle."

"I'm not being 'like' anything. _You_ need to get over yourself and quit taking everything so damn seriously. That mind reading comment was a _joke_, for pete's sake! Lighten up!"

"Now you sound like Emmett."

"Maybe Emmett has a point. He's the one that looks like the Incredible Hulk on steroids, right?"

"That's him, yes."

"Okay. It's kinda hard to keep all your brothers and sisters straight, y'know, since I've never actually met them."

Edward didn't squirm at this slightly pointed comment, but his movements became markedly stiffer, as if he were fighting an urge to freeze completely.

Elle pressed the issue, modulating her tone to sound innocently curious. "Is there any particular reason you haven't introduced us?"

"Look, we're here." Edward pulled her to a halt in front of the local bakery and practically dragged her inside.

"How'd you know I was thinking of eating here?"

He dodged the question by leading her to a table in the corner and pulling out a chair for her. "You sit, I'll get your breakfast."

"Yes, boss," Elle grumbled. She sat, trusting that Edward knew what she wanted.

That was how she found herself munching on some sort of sausage roll, which was a long way from the chocolate-glazed doughnut she'd wanted but which Edward insisted was better for her - though she noticed that, regardless of its nutritional value, he rebuffed her offer to split it with him. "So," she said in between bites, "you were gonna tell me why it is that we all go to the same school, but you're still the only Cullen I know."

"Was I?"

"No, I bet you were hoping I'd forget. You're _going_ to tell me, though."

Edward countered with a question of his own. "Why this sudden desire to meet my family? You've never expressed much interest in them before."

"Last night Daddy pointed out how odd it was that I couldn't tell him anything about them, that's all." This was, after all, true; why lie and risk her thoughts giving her away instead of taking advantage of a rare instance when the truth worked?

After a moment's consideration, he seemed to accept her story and relaxed. "Emmett, Rosalie, Alice, and Jasper are all coming to the dance next weekend - I'll introduce you then. You know," he added, "I haven't met your father either."

"That's because Daddy spends most of his life in Primatech facilities. Work is everything to him - he doesn't much care what I'm doing or who my friends are." Suddenly honesty wasn't so fun anymore.

###

"Will you do me a favor, Elle?" Edward asked as they sped along the highway toward Forks.

"Maybe," she replied in a singsong voice, drawing the word out so that it was about six syllables longer than it was supposed to be. "Depends what it is you want." She already knew she would do it; as far as she was concerned his giving her a lift had earned him that much. Riding in Edward's Volvo wasn't quite the same as being on the back of a motorcycle, but it was faster - _way_ faster. Edward Cullen drove like a maniac. Elle Bishop was loving every second of it. _I wonder if Edward's ever considered motorcycles..._

Feeling his eyes on her reminded her that he was asking her for something, and she ought to pay attention. "Sorry, my mind wandered for a second. What were you saying?"

He eyed her with exasperation and a hint of disapproval - she didn't care for that at all. When he spoke, he enunciated each word very clearly as if trying to drill them into her brain. "I want you to be careful in La Push today, Elle."

"Be careful in La Push," she repeated dubiously. "That's it? You worried I'll fall in the ocean?"

Edward smiled crookedly. "That's certainly a concern-"

"-That you can scratch off your list. Me and water don't mix well, remember?"

"Good." He turned serious again so fast it was dizzying. "Just promise me you won't pick any fights with the locals, please."

Elle's pale blonde eyebrows rose. "Locals? Somebody lives on the beach?"

"La Push is more than a beach - it's also a reservation, home of the Quileute tribe. Certain Quileute boys have been known to have problems with their tempers, so if any of them show up today... Just tread carefully around them."

"Okay." This had to be the strangest warning Elle had ever received in her short life, but it didn't seem like a hard one to follow. _I never start fights anyway,_ she thought indignantly. _I only finish them. _

###

When Elle got out of Edward's car and headed over to the group of kids clustered around Mike's minivan with Edward a few paces behind her, Eric greeted the pair with an ill-humored kind of resignation. "I didn't know you'd invited Cullen," he said sullenly to Elle.

"I won't be going with you," Edward replied before the blonde's mouth was even open. "Just giving the lady a ride is all."

Eric brightened, then scowled again when Edward slipped an arm around Elle, resting his hand lightly on her shoulder. "Oh. I didn't know you drove her places."

Elle reacted to the touch with a slight shifting but made no move to get away. "Yeah, me either - he just turned up at my door this morning." She addressed her next words to Edward. "Y'know, in New York you don't just show up at someone's place; you call ahead and _then_ come over."

Edward promised to keep that in mind; Elle promised to slam the door in his face if he dropped by unannounced or uninvited a second time. Then their conversation - and Eric's attempts to butt in - was interrupted by Mike coming over to insist that they get into the van, as it really was time to go. Eric took Elle by the arm and pulled her away from Edward, who was perturbed to notice that she put up no resistance. Well, he'd known all along that she was a flirt; he just wished she wouldn't flirt with anyone other than him.

As he watched the Newtons' van pull out onto the road leading to La Push, he also wished that his classmates had chosen another destination for their field trip. Someplace where he could follow them and keep an eye on Elle, make sure she was safe, would have been nice. Remembering the barely-suppressed gleam in Eric's eyes as he pulled Elle away, Edward added, _And make sure that vile Yorkie behaves himself!_

The ever-present burn in the back of his throat intensified a few degrees as he contemplated what he might do if Eric didn't clue in to the fact - which should be painfully obvious to anybody with working eyeballs - that Elle had no interest in him whatsoever. _But then, he can't know her mind like I can. She doesn't help matters either, agreeing to go off with him today...teasing him when she should tell him to leave her alone..._

Now he was dangerously close to being upset with Elle too, and the urge to rip into something was growing more powerful. _It's time for me to hunt; I might as well take care of that while Elle is gone. Perhaps Carlisle will want to join me. _

Carlisle, however, was otherwise occupied. When Edward called, his adoptive father told him that he had his hands full with a curious case: a man, only thirty years old and seemingly in near-perfect health, had suffered a heart attack. The police had brought him to the hospital, having been summoned to search for him after he'd failed to meet his friends at a bar in Port Angeles. The unfortunate man had been found passed out on the street near his motorcycle, which Chief Swan was convinced was somehow responsible for its owner's strange health problems, though Carlisle had assured him that motorcycles generally were not a cause of cardiac arrest.

"All the evidence indicates that the heart attack was caused by a massive electrical shock, but there were no broken power lines in the area where he was found."

"Maybe it wasn't a power line, then," Edward suggested. "Someone could have tasered your patient."

"Tasers don't carry enough voltage to cause his condition, though," Carlisle pointed out.

"Odd, but I'm confident you'll figure it out before the day is over. You always do."

###

Meanwhile, Elle was also hearing the tale of the mysterious heart attack from a kid whose cousin worked as a nurse at the hospital. Outwardly she appeared intrigued and concerned, just like everyone else. Inside, she was feeling a faint stirring of the same frustration that had led her to vent on the first guy foolish and unlucky enough to cross her path.

This undercover gig was mostly okay - Elle had never been what anyone would call a 'normal' girl, so getting a chance to pretend to be one was fun - but having to hide her powers all the time sucked. So she'd slipped up _once_. So what? _What's so bad about frying some random guy who was probably a pervert anyway, since he tried to pick up a sixteen-year-old girl? I don't see what they're all making such a big deal about. Still, I'd better not zap anybody else, or Thompson will kick my butt._

**I just could not resist having Carlisle examine somebody Elle had zapped and going 'what the heck happened here?' **

**Next up: Sam meets Elle and finds her apparent closeness with Edward alarming. Any guesses what he'll do about it?**


	10. Found Out

**Okay, first of all, I'm sorry I haven't updated in so long.**

**This chapter is a little different; chapters 1-9 were mostly about developing Elle's relationship with Edward, and I'm going to continue doing that, but now I'm going to introduce some serious obstacles to their relationship as well, starting with the werewolf pack. I focused a lot on Sam's perspective here, so I'd really like to know what you think of it. **

Chapter 10: Found Out

The smell hit Sam Uley from a mile up the beach, triggering the werewolf's killer instincts. It had been more than a year since he'd exploded into his wolf form unintentionally, but right then it almost happened again. He restrained his inner beast - if only barely; it was a much closer call than he would've liked - and glanced over his shoulder at Paul and Jared.

Jared was all but holding his nose, and Paul's face had twisted into a teeth-baring snarl - they definitely smelled it too. Even without their telepathic connection, Sam knew they were also thinking the exact same thing as him: _What the _hell_?_ The treaty had kept peace between the Quileutes and the Cullens for decades, since the time when Ephraim Black led the tribe, so why would the cold ones break it now?

Sam hung back to consult with his pack while Jacob Black bounded up the beach alone - lucky kid hadn't joined them yet.

"There are humans present as well; you can just barely smell them through the leech's stink," Jared reported. "I can't hear any screaming or smell blood, though, so the vampire must not have attacked anyone."

"Must be a Cullen, then." Paul spat the name like a swearword. "Let's go remind them whose land this is."

"Watch it, Paul," Sam said sternly. "We don't want any innocent bystanders getting hurt. Just chill till we know what the leech is doing here."

Paul let out a low growl of frustration but calmed down. "So no phasing?" he asked sulkily.

"No, stay in human form. That's an order."

The three lycanthropes made their wary way up the beach, and quickly discovered the unpleasant smell's source: a petite blonde girl who had her back to them, chatting animatedly with Jessica Stanley and looking right at home in La Push, like she belonged there. Sam, Jared, and Paul traded consternation-filled looks; there was a blonde female in the Cullens' coven, but they were almost certain she was taller.

"The Cullens have made a new friend," Jared muttered.

"Stay back," Sam ordered, just as quietly. "I'll find out what her deal is." He cut through the cluster of high school kids as they gathered driftwood for a fire, unpacked surfboards and coolers full of soft drinks and food from Mike Newton's Suburban, or, in the case of Tyler Crowley, chased Lauren Mallory with a slimy strand of seaweed, stealthily closing in on the girl.

###

"Lauren, Angela, and I are going dress-shopping in Port Angeles next week; you have _got_ to come with. You need a total knockout of a dress for a date with Edward 'No-Girl-Here-is-Pretty-Enough-for-Me' Cullen."

"Jessie, I didn't know you cared! It's _so_ nice of you to care about how my date goes," Elle gushed insincerely, bright phony smile firmly in place. _So nice of you to remind me that everybody in school wonders what Edward sees in me. Well, you can just keep wondering, so long as no one figures out _my_ reason for being interested in _him_... _

A heavy hand dropped onto her shoulder from out of nowhere. "Hey...!" She whirled around, intending to give Mr. Grabby a tongue-lashing, and found herself face to face with a broad, muscular torso covered by a tight navy blue t-shirt. Slowly, Elle tilted her head up - _way_ up - so she could see the man's face. He looked Native American; Elle guessed he must be a member of the Quileute tribe Edward had told her about.

And his grip on her shoulder was so tight Elle thought she heard her bones creaking in protest. "Can I help you?" For once there was no trace of flirtatiousness in her voice; she might like muscles on a guy, but she preferred men who _didn't_ look like they could break her body in half as easily as snapping a twig. This probably meant she shouldn't be into Edward, but hey, at least he wasn't so freakishly huge that she needed a stepladder to make eye contact with him, unlike the giant who currently had hold of her. "Can I help you?" she repeated, more forcefully.

###

Shaken and confused, Sam stared across a multicolored driftwood fire at Elle Bishop and wondered what to make of her. Up close she was obviously human - her skin wasn't bloodless enough to belong to a vampire and her eyes were gray, not yellow or red. He could even make out her warm, clean, human scent, though it was almost buried under the sickly sweet vampire stench that clung to her like an invisible fog shroud, indicating that she had very recently had close, prolonged contact with a vampire.

Sam knew of course that the five Cullens who possessed the physical appearances of teenagers attended Forks High School - that ridiculous facade of humanity that they insisted on putting up - but simply going to school with the Cullens wouldn't provide close enough proximity to coat Elle with their scent, not even if she sat right next to one of them in class. Anyway, there was no school on Saturday, and the offensive scent wasn't more than an hour old. _The Cullens, _Sam deduced, _do more than just go to class with this girl; they must see her outside of school too. But _why_? What do they want with her? What's the connection between them?_

Sam wasn't the only one wondering this. "It's too bad Edward couldn't come out today," Lauren Mallory remarked with a pointed glance at Elle. "Didn't anyone think to invite him?" Another pointed glance.

Elle finally raised her eyes from the depths of her mini-bag of potato chips and arranged a faintly contemptuous smile on her face. "No, as a matter of fact, I didn't invite Edward; I may be going to the dance with him, but that doesn't mean I have to let him hang around me _every minute_."

"So you don't _miss_ him?" Lauren pressed. "Isn't he supposed to be your boyfriend or something like that?"

"I'm gonna go with 'or something'. We're just friends," Elle declared, "and what goes on between us is really nobody else's business...unless _you_ like Edward. Next time we hang out, I'll be sure to tell him."

Lauren's face turned a blotchy pink. "You'd better not! If you say anything like that, I'll- I'll-"

"You know, Lauren, threats are generally more intimidating if you actually finish them," Elle said coolly.

Lauren's angry flush turned a couple shades darker, but she wisely shut up. Elle smirked, licked her fingertip, and mimed writing scores in midair - Elle: 1, Lauren: 0.

Sam listened closely to the girls' exchange, and found it disturbing. So Elle had a date with Edward Cullen, did she? The poor girl must be either very stupid or completely ignorant as to the true nature of her 'friend'. Either way, it sounded like he was going out of his way to trick her into spending time with him. Whatever his motives for this deception might be, Sam doubted anything good would come of his friendship with the girl - if that was really an appropriate term for their bizarre relationship. Who ever heard of a vampire befriending a human?

Elle's head suddenly turned in Sam's direction, her gray eyes locking on his black ones. A slight frown creased her forehead, and those stormy eyes flashed. The message was clear: she had noticed Sam paying special attention to her and wanted him to stop.

He gave her a quick placatory smile, but it only made her frown harder, so Sam made a big show of getting up and walking away.

Jared and Paul joined him at a large garbage can set up near the parking lot, meant to reduce littering on the beach. "So give us the lowdown," Paul demanded instantly.

Sam filled them in on what Lauren had inadvertently told him. "I don't like it one bit," he concluded.

"Sounds like your everyday high school flirtation to me," Jared offered. "You know how the Cullens like to pretend they're human." Still, he looked troubled.

"But they're _not_ human, and if they've forgotten that, then we'll just have to remind them," Paul said firmly. "Isn't that right, Sam? Being around them is putting this girl in danger, and it's our duty to protect her."

"_If_ she's in danger, yes, but there's no proof that she is. They haven't hurt her-"

"-Yet. Come on, Sam! 'No proof' - that's bull and you know it. They've gotten close enough to her that she stinks bad enough to be mistaken for a leech herself. She has a _date_ with one of them, and I'll bet anything she ends up as his midnight snack when they go parking after the dance!"

Sam didn't know if he believed that - after all, he'd never heard of any Cullen harming a single person in all the years they'd lived in Forks. Then again, he hadn't heard of them getting close to any human either. And if all they wanted with Elle Bishop was to feed on her, wouldn't they have done it already?

"This is what we're gonna do," he decided. "I'll let the elders know about the situation and see if they think it calls for any action. Jared, when the girl leaves the beach I want you to follow her, but don't interfere unless it looks like she's in trouble, okay?"

"Got it."

"And what about me?"

Sam fixed the most hotheaded member of his pack with a stern look. "You, Paul, are going home, where you can't start a fight with the Cullen coven before we know beyond a shadow of a doubt that they're actually doing something wrong."

"Are you saying I start fights for no good reason?" Paul asked indignantly.

Sam and Jared tactfully avoided answering this question.

###

Standing outside Newton's, watching her classmates say goodbye to one another and drift off to their various vehicles, Elle realized something very important: she had no way of getting home. Edward had brought her here, but now he and his shiny silver Volvo were nowhere to be seen. Her own car was sitting uselessly outside the apartment building in Port Angeles, miles away from Forks. _How could I have been so stupid?_ she wondered.

If she stood around long enough and looked sufficiently damsel-in-distress-ish, Eric would probably offer her a ride; he'd be delighted at a chance to spend more time with her and one-up Edward at the same time. Elle immediately ruled out that course of action - she'd had all of Eric she could take in one day. Besides, Edward would probably get mad if she let Eric take her home. Making Edward mad was not conducive to accomplishing her mission. _It's only a few miles to Port Angeles; I can walk. All that physical training with Eden is finally gonna pay off. _

She sneaked away from the other kids, took a moment to examine street signs and determine her direction, then started walking. She had gone less than half a mile when she stopped, feeling uneasy - like she was being watched.

Bending over on the pretext of retying her shoe, she looked around and saw...nothing. That didn't mean there was no one watching her, though - the road was bordered on one side by the thick forest that seemed to cover most of the Olympic Peninsula. Those trees could easily hide a person. _I guess these woods must be like a stalker's dream come true..._

She straightened up and kept walking, deciding that she didn't really care if someone was spying on her so long as they didn't actually try anything. If they did, she would be ready for them. Still, the idea that somebody was hidden in those trees creeped her out more than a little - which was why she threw herself off the road the instant she heard the soft rumble of an approaching car.

The very familiar car slowed, then pulled over and stopped, and Edward climbed out, looking way too amused at seeing Elle sprawled out beside the road - she had slipped on the permanently soggy grass and landed in a rather undignified position. "What are you doing down there?"

She glared up at him. "Trying to get away from you, you jerk."

Edward wiped the annoyingly gorgeous smile off his face before Elle lost control and zapped it off. "Are you angry because I arrived to pick you up too late? I'm sorry. You might have waited another five minutes before setting off by yourself, though," he added in a sudden burst of frustration. "You should have known I wouldn't leave you stranded. Do you have any idea of the things that can happen to girls who go walking in the woods alone?"

"I wasn't in the woods, I was on the road."

"A road which happens to be very close to the woods."

"Whatever. I can take care of myself."

"I'm sure."

It was the way Edward rolled his eyes (which had shifted to a light butterscotch shade during their few hours apart) that set Elle off. She had survived perfectly well without him for sixteen years and change, so where did he get off appointing himself her protector, lecturing her on safety hazards? "You-!" She lunged forward, intending to give Edward a good shove. Naturally, he was too fast - he caught her by the wrists, easily restraining her. "Hey! Let me go!"

Edward smiled crookedly. "No, I don't think I will." He pulled her closer. "I finally have you where I want you."

Elle's mood underwent one of the drastic changes that Edward had learned were characteristic of her: aggravation gone, flirtatiousness back in full force. She peered up into his face through her black-mascara-ed lashes and gave him a coy smile. "And where exactly do you want me?"

Before Edward could reply, he heard something inside his head that was best described as a mental growl, followed by, _Get your hands off her, filthy parasite! _

His head whipped toward the woods, where he thought the 'voice' had come from, and he sniffed the air, but the wind was blowing out of the wrong direction. He couldn't smell the intruder, but he knew it had to be a wolf of the Quileute tribe - there were only a select few who would refer to him as a filthy parasite.

Then he turned back to Elle, who was still smiling, waiting for him to speak. "I want you to get in the car."

Her smile vanished. "What's wrong?"

_Dammit! _Her human eyesight might not have been able to keep track of Edward's movements as he scanned the trees, but she had still sensed that something wasn't right. She was far too perceptive for a human. "Just get into the car, Elle," Edward said through tightly clenched teeth. He yanked the passenger door open and pushed her in so forcefully that she almost ended up impaled on the gearshift.

Luckily she threw her hands out in front of her just in time to catch herself on the seat. She turned around so as to get into the car the right way - which, contrary to what Edward apparently thought, was _not_ face-first - and had barely got her feet inside before Edward, who had materialized in the driver's seat with amazing speed, reached across her to close her door. Then they were off, accelerating so fast that they literally laid down rubber on the highway.

Inertia slammed Elle's back against her seat, and she scrambled to fasten her seatbelt as Edward approached a sharp twist in the road with no sign of slowing. She might have enjoyed his lunatic driving earlier, but that didn't mean she was completely lacking in self-preservation instincts, and this was a bit much even for her. "Edward, what the hell do you think you're doing?"

His only response was to apply more pressure to the accelerator.

**Normally this is where I give you a preview, but ch11 is still in the planning phase.**


	11. Enemies

**I am so sorry I neglected this story for, what, a whole month(?) when it was finally starting to get good. Inexcusable. Well, this is my first update in 2011! I hope it's a great year for everybody. **

Chapter 11: Enemies

Elle sat frozen and - for once in her life - mute, clutching the Volvo's leather seat with both hands until Edward successfully whipped it around the impossibly sharp bend and the road straightened out again. He picked up even more speed, and she decided that she didn't want to ride with him anymore until he stopped pretending he was driving in the Indianapolis 500.

She found the lock on her door, undid it...and then Edward noticed what she was doing. He punched a button, and the locking mechanism clicked back into place. "Elle, what do you think you're doing?" he asked, oddly calm for a guy who was driving over one hundred-fifty miles per hour on a narrow, dangerously curvy road.

"Well, you've obviously gone crazy," she replied with equal calmness, "so I've decided I want out of your car."

"Not happening," he said instantly.

"Wanna bet?" She reached for the button that would release her seatbelt.

"You cannot jump out of a moving vehicle at this speed. You'd be killed," Edward patiently explained.

"Grass is pretty thick; I think I could make it so long as I don't hit a tree." Elle freed herself from the seatbelt and went for the lock again.

Edward grabbed her arm and pulled her closer to himself, easily restraining her so that she couldn't reach the controls that would open any doors or windows. "I'm sorry, I can't let you do that. Would you mind telling me why you are so averse to spending another minute in this car with me?"

"Because you're driving like a crazy person - and now you're only using one hand! Oh, and let's not forget the way you threw me in so that I almost broke my nose on your stupid gearshift! I'm not feeling especially safe with you at the moment."

"Very well." With a sigh, Edward slammed on the brakes so abruptly that Elle would have gone flying through the windshield if he hadn't been holding her by the arm; his grip kept her in her seat more effectively than the car's safety restraints would have. "There, is this better?"

Elle checked the speedometer and decided that ninety mph was a perfectly reasonable speed. "Okay, now that I'm not worried about dying, you can explain why you were channeling Mario Andretti in the first place."

Edward didn't answer right away; first he scanned their surroundings, pushing his telepathy to its limits. The Quileute wolf was still tailing them, still spewing a vitriolic mental rant about vampires, but not planning to attack them since Edward didn't appear to be making an afternoon snack out of Elle. _As if I would ever do that!_ Even if he would, it would be much more quick and painless and much less sloppy than the wolf's mental picture suggested - he seemed to think vampires had never heard of table manners.

"If you're gonna ignore me, you can just let me out here," Elle said loudly. "I can walk to Port Angeles."

"Did you remember my advice not to pick fights with the Quileutes?"

"Yeah, I remembered."

"Did you _follow_ my advice?"

"I didn't pick any fights!" Elle shouted. "I wouldn't bother with those creeps anyway. I just minded my own business, but this big guy, Sam, kept staring at me like I smelled bad!"

Edward's razor teeth ground together. "Is that so?"

"Yes, he did, which is ridiculous - I took a shower last night. Then Lauren brought you up and gave me crap for allegedly being your girlfriend and not inviting you, and Sam was way too interested in what she said. I could tell he didn't like the idea of us going to that dance next weekend...like it made him angry. That's freaky, right?"

She watched his reaction closely; Edward imagined that he could feel her steely eyes burning into him like acid, eating away at his defenses. He couldn't pretend ignorance here; she would never believe his act. Far_ too perceptive for a human, _he thought again. "I suppose I should tell you... They don't like my family in La Push." He hoped she might let him leave it there, but no such luck.

"Why not?" she asked swiftly. "What'd you do to them?"

"I assure you, no one in my family has ever done the Quileutes any harm. It's just that we... Well, you've noticed that we're different. Everyone notices."

Elle picked up the faint sadness in Edward's tone, but she had other things on her mind besides comforting him. "Most people just avoid you, though. Sam and these two other big guys he went off with, who also kept sneaking looks at me when they thought I wouldn't see, looked like they _hated_ you."

Edward shrugged. "Nobody really _likes_ us - the Quileutes are simply taking the common sentiment a couple steps further." It was at least a part of the truth, minus the tiny detail of the Cullens' outcast status being due to their vampirism; Elle accepted it, much to Edward's relief.

"Oh. Well, screw 'em," she said in her casually brazen way. "Screw all of them. _I _like you."

She spoke the words as if they were no big deal, which they weren't - to her. Her unwavering acceptance meant more than she would ever know to Edward, though he seriously doubted she would be so understanding if she knew the true extent to which he and his family differed from everyone else in town. _She wouldn't like me if she knew what I am; she'd hate me. She would think I'm a monster. _ Vampires didn't need to breathe, but that thought made him feel like he _couldn't_, like all the air had been sucked out of the car. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at Elle, and realized that he couldn't stand it if she saw him the way he saw himself: as a soulless, unnatural creature. _ I'll just have to make certain she never finds out. _

###

The rest of their drive passed uneventfully, apart from a single incident in which Edward's telepathy alerted him that they were about to meet a police officer, forcing him to actually obey the speed limit for once. He and Elle waved at Charlie Swan as they passed him, and then Edward sped back up to one-twenty as soon as they were safely out of range of the police chief's radar. Elle pretended it was perfectly natural for him to know when there was a cop approaching. Edward, of course, noticed her pretending. Neither of them mentioned it.

When they reached Port Angeles, it crossed Edward's mind to ask if he could take Elle to dinner, but he quickly dismissed the idea. The wolf had caught up with them somewhere on the road; it would be foolish to assume he couldn't catch them again once he had changed to his human form and gotten dressed. He had orders to tail Edward and Elle as long as they were together (but without interfering unless Elle seemed to be in danger) and to report back to his alpha after they split up.

_If I leave her at home and go my own way, the wolf should follow me, then leave once it becomes obvious I'm not going to hunt in town. One would think that after all these years they should know we won't break the treaty... But that is unimportant. All that matters is getting the dog away from Elle; I can handle whatever he does afterward. In any case, we probably should not go to dinner together - she could hardly fail to notice that I don't eat. I suppose I _could_ eat just enough to keep her from getting suspicious... _

The vampire's stomach clenched - he _really_ hated the thought of eating human food. _No, I won't do that, _he decided. Not even as a way to prolong his time with his favorite human. He glanced over at her side of the car and saw her staring out her window at downtown Port Angeles. A quick peek into her mind told him she was admiring the stores' and restaurants' neon lights. She was completely oblivious to the fact that they were being stalked by a werewolf...who happened to be intent on protecting her from her vampiric best friend. _Lucky girl. _

Edward drove to her apartment building, walked her to her door, and then stood there, knowing he should leave but not wanting to.

Elle picked up on his inner conflict and tried to help him out. "Do you wanna come in?"

"No thank you. I don't want to cause you any trouble." He was referring to trouble with the wolves; Elle's mind went in a different direction.

"Daddy isn't home yet, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him."

"Oh." Edward was thrown by Elle bringing up her father, since he hadn't been anywhere in her thoughts a second ago - most humans didn't pull things out of the blue like that. "Well, I suppose not, but still..."

"You weren't thinking of my dad," Elle said shrewdly. "So what's the problem? No, don't tell me, let me guess - you think the creepy guys from La Push who hate your family followed us here, and they could be watching us right...this...minute." She lowered her voice to an ominous undertone, then laughed.

Edward made himself laugh with her, though his was faked. She was joking...wasn't she? There was no way she could be aware that they had indeed been followed...right? With Elle Bishop, he could never be as sure as he would have liked. "Yes, they probably are, but don't worry. I'll protect you. You know that, don't you? I would never let anything happen to you."

Elle stared up into his liquid gold eyes, eyes that almost seemed to burn in their intensity, and didn't know whether to feel comforted or frightened. It was definitely better to hear Edward say that he wanted to protect her than that he intended to harm her, but at the same time she was disturbed by his perfect sincerity - like he actually believed she might be in some kind of danger. "Um...thanks...I think. Well, that's great. I'm going inside now." She scooted through her door at twice her usual speed and shut it with more force than she usually applied.

Edward heard the distinct metallic clink of her locking the door, both with the regular lock and the deadbolt, and cursed himself for a fool. Instead of reassuring her, he had upset her, and she was so rarely upset that he felt terrible about it. At least she was safe - from both werewolves _and_ vampires - at least for tonight. And he would see her again on Monday, in school; till then he would leave her alone. Hopefully that would be enough time for her to forget the weekend's stranger events.

###

Jared breathed a sigh of relief as he watched the silver Volvo pull out of the apartment complex's parking lot and onto the road leading out of Port Angeles. The leech was leaving, the girl was still alive, and he could finally quit crouching in bushes like some perverted stalker and go home.

Sam and Paul met him in the forest and viewed his memories of Edward and Elle via the pack's telepathic link; he in turn felt their amazement and disgust at what they saw.

_Filthy bloodsucking leech, _Paul snarled, hackles raised. _I always thought it was sick, the way they like to pretend they're human, but this is a new low even for them. _

_ At least he hasn't yet harmed the girl. That's something, _Sam pointed out. _Still, this is worrisome. I'll report this to the elders - they've been waiting for more information before making a decision. Good work, Jared. _

_ Thanks. Before you go, Sam... _He hesitated. _You saw how he suddenly shoved the girl into the car - what if he somehow knew I was there? I was sure I stayed upwind of him, but..._

_ What if he did? You weren't in their territory. Under the terms of the treaty, they have no grounds for complaint, _Sam assured him. _Now go home, both of you. I'll call you when the elders decide what our next move is. _ He watched until the other members of his three-man pack were out of sight, then he too started running.

The Council of Elders had assembled in Billy Black's backyard since he was the least mobile of the bunch, and were anxiously awaiting Sam's return. When he stepped out of the woods in human form, they all sat up straighter in their lawn chairs (or, in Billy's case, wheelchair).

"Well? What did Jared find out?" Harry Clearwater demanded.

"It's what we were afraid of. One of the Cullen males, the one with bronze-colored hair who looks like a teenager, met her near Newton's Olympic Outfitters. She acted...way too comfortable with him. He drove her home, and Jared thought for a moment that he was going to go inside with her, but it didn't happen."

The elders let out a collective sigh of relief; there was no way Jared could've got close enough to see what went on inside Elle's apartment and remained undetected.

Sam continued, detailing the disturbing closeness displayed by Edward and Elle. "The Cullens are odd in number," he concluded. "They're all mated, except this one. Judging by what I heard on the beach today, I'm afraid that may be about to change."

"The treaty explicitly states that they're not allowed to bite or change anyone," Billy said sharply.

"Can we be sure he's planning on changing her?"

"It's better than the alternative... A vampire trying to mate with a human girl..."

This brought grumbling and noises of outright disgust from everyone present. "We can't sit by and let this happen," Harry insisted. "The girl might not be part of our tribe, but she _is_ human and therefore needs to be protected from these monsters. This relationship has to be discouraged."

"Paul says the Cullens need a reminder of the treaty's finer points," Sam said. Paul might be impetuous and hot-tempered, but that didn't mean his suggestions were entirely without merit.

Billy Black agreed. "That's not a bad idea. The only problem is finding a safe place to talk with them."

This momentarily stymied them - it wasn't like anyone in La Push had the Cullens' telephone number. It was Sam who finally came up with a solution. "Forks High School's spring dance - the bloodsucker and his human will be there next Saturday night. I can crash the dance, get him alone when she goes to the bathroom to check her makeup."

Everyone agreed that this was a great idea. "Sam, you and your pack will keep watching them whenever you can, but make sure you don't encroach on their territory."

"That shouldn't be a problem, since the girl lives in Port Angeles."

"Good. Keep an eye on them, and assuming the girl survives the week with him..."

"My pack will make sure she does," Sam vowed. "And on Saturday night, I'll tell the leech he'd better break it off with his human girlfriend and find another vampire...or else."

**Next time: Someone unexpected shows up to help Elle get ready for the dance, Edward tries to determine if she **_**can**_** actually dance, Sam makes his move...and someone else does as well. **


	12. Dance

**Warning: this chapter starts off kind of slow (any guys reading it might get bored with all the descriptions of and focus on clothing) but then it picks up (so don't be scared away by the clothes) and ends with one of my best cliffhangers yet. I almost felt bad about leaving it there. Almost. **

Chapter 12: Dance

Edward spent the rest of the weekend watching over Elle from a distance. The wolves were still spying on her, and even though he abided by his decision not to contact her until they met again in school, he wasn't about to leave her unprotected with them around. Careful as he was to stay out of sight, she seemed to sense that she was being watched. It even crossed her mind that he might be stalking her, but she responded to the notion with a remarkable lack of fear, supremely confident in her own ability to take care of herself. That only made Edward worry about her more.

On Monday he walked her to biology class, just like always, except that this time he put extra effort into appearing as normal as possible. The act wasn't only for her - he didn't want to tip off the wolves that he knew their eyes were on him and Elle.

On Thursday he decided she'd had sufficient time to recover from the fright he'd given her the previous weekend and asked if they were still on for the spring dance on Saturday night.

"I don't know," Elle replied, pensively twisting a long blonde strand around her index finger and scowling at it as though trying to incinerate her own hair by sheer force of will. "I can't find a damned dress. Before you ask, yes I _have_ looked, but there aren't that many places to shop in Port Angeles, and the stuff they've got just isn't _me_."

Edward surveyed her current outfit - bright red sweater and denim miniskirt over lurid pink-and-purple-striped leggings, with her yellow plaid boots completing the look - and wondered whether there was a dress anywhere in the world that would suit her. If there was, it would be a sight to behold. "Don't worry about it. My sister Alice has more clothes than she'll be able to wear in ten years - I know she would be happy to loan you a dress."

But when he asked Alice about it later, she said that Elle wouldn't need to borrow a dress from her. "I've already seen what she's wearing, and it isn't anything of mine. She'll look lovely, though, even without my help." That fact almost seemed to disappoint the tiny fashion-loving vampire.

"She won't wear anything too outlandish, will she? Of course it doesn't matter to me, but I don't want anyone to laugh at her." Edward's menacing tone made it clear that anyone who dared to laugh at whatever his favorite human might deem appropriate dance attire would be torn limb from limb.

Alice giggled and stubbornly refused to think about her vision of Elle's dress. "That's for me to know and you to find out!"

_Saturday afternoon_

Elle went home from another unsuccessful shopping excursion in a serious funk, wondering why all the clothing stores in the area had to carry such boring dress selections. Everything they sold either came only in insipid pastel colors, or had too long a skirt, or, worst of all, was covered in ruffles. Elle would go to the dance naked before she would show up in a ruffled dress. _Well, hey, this dance is supposed to be semiformal, so it's not like I need a freaking _ball gown _or anything. I could just wear my miniskirt - I look totally hot in it. I could wear it with no tights underneath; I bet that'd make Edward's eyes pop out... Now I think about it, semiformal is a stupid word. It's what, halfway formal? And who decides what's formal and what isn't? I should find that person and zap them for making it so hard to dress for this stupid dance..._

She quit stewing over semiformal dresses when she touched the handle of her apartment door, which was unlocked although she knew she had locked it before leaving. Thompson might have opened it, but why would he come by to check on her on a Saturday, when he knew she would be gone?

Pressing her ear to the door, she heard a series of noises that sounded a lot like someone poking through her stuff. She concluded that it must be a burglar. Well, they'd broken into the wrong place. She burst through the door, electricity already crackling at her fingertips, and commenced blasting at the first sign of movement. The intruder fell heavily with a grunt of pain, then made the mistake of trying to get up again. Elle gave him a second jolt that laid him out face-down on the floor. "Stay down! If you move again I'll fry you extra crispy."

A second, very familiar man came out of her bedroom, his face set in an equally familiar expression of annoyance. "Elle, what do you think you're doing?"

Seeing him sent an unpleasant shock from her brain to the tips of her toes, as if she herself had been zapped. "_Daddy_? What are you doing here?"

Bob Bishop folded his arms across his chest and frowned severely at her. "A better question is why you just electrocuted Mr. Parkman."

"What-?" Elle peered down at the fallen man, who was moving again; he had turned over so that his face was in view, proving that it was indeed Maury Parkman she had attacked. She immediately went on the defensive. "Well he was in my apartment, and I didn't know it was him! I thought he was a burglar!"

"At least you showed decent reflexes," Bob said dismissively.

"I wish her reflexes had been a tad slower," puffed Maury as he heaved his weighty frame off the floor.

"Sorry, Mr. Parkman." _What's the fatso doing here with my dad anyway? _she wondered; the thought skittered across the surface of her mind before she could stop it, and of course Maury heard it. He gave her a dirty look that told her she might be forgiven for shocking him, but he strongly resented her rudeness. Whatever, it wasn't _her _fault he was fat and couldn't handle the truth. In that moment, she was abjectly grateful that Edward was so attractive, so that she didn't have to watch what she thought about him when he was close enough to hear.

Maury's eyes glinted maliciously as he told Bob, "You were right - she's not faking her attraction to the Cullen kid, and she still plans on going to that dance with him tonight. Who knows what might happen between them there?"

"You-!"

Bob talked over Elle, ignoring her. "Then I think you'd better reinforce the gag order you put on her before she left New York."

"You don't have to do that! I'm not going to tell Edward anything about the Company!" Elle protested.

"But he's a telepath," Maury reminded her. "He could always squeeze it out of you."

Elle couldn't imagine Edward ripping information out of a person's mind the way Maury did, but she realized further protests would get her nowhere. "Just get it over with."

Maury did his work on her quickly, strengthening the mental block he'd set up to protect all her Primatech-related thoughts from telepathic reading and reinforcing the order he had imprinted on her mind that prevented her from actually telling Edward the truth about herself, or writing it down for him, or otherwise communicating it to him in any way.

When Maury finished with her, Bob presented her with a white box bearing the name of a high-end clothing store. "Angie said you don't have anything to wear tonight, so she thought you might like this."

"Mrs. Petrelli sent me a dress? Wow." Elle was surprised, to say the least, by this thoughtful gesture from the woman she had always suspected of not liking her very much. _I bet she sent Daddy too; he wouldn't be here on his own. In fact, he probably can't wait to get out of here. _

Right on cue, Bob impatiently said, "Well, go put it on so we can take pictures and I can catch my flight back to New York. I've got work to do, you know."

###

Edward pulled into the parking lot in front of Forks High School in a very bad mood. He'd finally found occasion to get his vintage Aston Martin out of the garage and he was sure Elle would have loved riding in it, but then her father had called to tell him she would meet him at the school, and not to bother driving to Port Angeles to pick her up. So instead of the evening he'd had planned with his human, Edward had been forced to chauffeur his siblings to the dance while enduring Emmett's jibes about how Elle probably intended to stand him up.

"She's not standing him up," Alice finally said.

Emmett broke off midsentence, perturbed at being told off, while Rosalie actually looked disappointed. "Did a vision tell you that?" she asked sullenly.

"Just my regular vision - her car is right over there." Alice pointed.

Edward parked next to it, crossed the two feet of space between his and Elle's vehicles, and tapped on her window.

She turned off her car's heater and emerged, ignoring Edward's offer of assistance. "I can get out of a car by myself, I just wasn't gonna stand out in the cold waiting on you," she explained. "I thought this was supposed to be the _spring_ dance. Does forty-eight degrees pass for spring here?"

Edward said that it did while surreptitiously examining her. She had at least discarded her yellow boots in favor of strappy silver high heels and forgone brightly colored tights - her legs were bare; no wonder she'd opted to stay in her heated car - but her dress was hidden by a long coat. He could only guess at what might be under there. "Shall we go inside?"

"Heck yeah, I'm freezing!"

"May I take your coat?" he asked once they were inside the gym.

Elle unzipped her coat, shrugged it off and attempted to hand it over to her date, who didn't take it. He was too absorbed in staring at her. Her dress was bright blue, strapless, made of shiny material that shimmered under the disco ball and clung to her body like shrink-wrap, leaving very little to the imagination even though it wasn't too low-cut or short - it hung to just above her knees, and there was no slit in the skirt. Her eyeshadow matched, and her hair had been brushed until it outshone her dress. In short, she was gorgeous, mesmerizing...until she spoiled the effect by placing her hands on her hips and demanding to know if there was something on her face.

"No, of course not. You look beautiful. I'm just surprised - stunned, actually. You are stunning. Electric blue is definitely your color."

Elle glanced down at herself and ran her fingers over her dress. "Electric blue, huh? I've never had anything this color before, but I like it."

"I'm surprised your father let you wear something so...well..."

"Sexy?" Elle supplied. "I mean, I look hot in this, right?"

"Indeed. I would've thought your father would object."

"He would've if _I'd_ bought it, but I got it from an office pal of his. She said I was gonna wear it tonight, and nobody argues with Mrs. P if they can help it."

"Ah, I see. My sister is like that - no one argues with Alice either."

"Like she knows what'll happen almost before it does? 'Cause that's what Mrs. P is like."

Edward decided it was time to distract Elle; this conversation was edging into dangerous ground. "Would you like to dance?"

She shrugged. "Why not?" _Hmm, I touched a nerve. Alice Cullen - precog? Maybe..._ She let him lead her to the dance floor and then, when he tried to move her into waltzing position, said, "I guess I should tell you, I'm not sure if I can dance."

"You can't dance?"

"Did I say that? I said I don't _know_ if I can, because there's never been a reason for me to try it."

"Well, you excel in gym; if Emmett and Jasper were standing here, I would bet them any amount of money that you'll be a wonderful dancer once I teach you how. Here..." He positioned her with one hand on his shoulder and held her other hand in his. "Now just follow the pressure on your waist and let me steer you - like this, you see? -"

"Uh-huh."

"-And you'll be fine; this dance is all in the leading. Are you ready?"

"Take it away, leader."

Edward guided Elle out onto the floor, where they began an elegant, whirling dance modeled after an old-fashioned waltz. It was completely unsuited to the music, of course, but they looked better doing it than any of the other dancers who were just 'moving to the music'. Before long, several couples had left the dance floor, not wanting to stand in contrast to them. Then Alice dragged Jasper onto the floor, and they started a dance that was mainly similar to what Edward and Elle were doing, except for when Jasper suddenly pulled Alice into a spontaneous dip - unlike Edward, who was just barely touching Elle, he didn't need to worry about breaking his partner. Everyone else left the floor in droves.

As they passed within a foot of each other, Alice flashed Edward a thumbs-up over Elle's shoulder. _See, didn't I tell you she would be perfect?_

Edward inclined his head just a fraction of a centimeter - yes, Alice had once again been proven right. Ellewas indeed perfect. She had always been pretty - not even her garish clothing could make her less attractive - but tonight she was dazzling, mesmerizing.

He didn't realize just how mesmerized by her he was until she said, "Hey, Edward? You're staring again." This time she didn't sound critical, just slightly winded although their dance wasn't all that strenuous. She just couldn't seem to catch her breath while Edward was holding her and looking at her like she might disappear if he took his eyes off her for one second. Every time she filled her lungs, the air rushed right back out. "I don't mind, it's just that you have this look like...like you've never really seen me before. If the dress is too much for you-"

"It's more than the dress," he interrupted. "It's you - I've always liked being with you, you know, but now I'm starting to realize-"

Elle stumbled. A vampire's brain could process myriad lines of thought simultaneously, but her human brain wasn't so well suited for multitasking; she had concentrated so exclusively on Edward that she'd lost the rhythm of the dance.

Her feet tangled together and she fell against him; he caught her easily and supported her while she regained her balance, but then he didn't let her move back. He just kept holding her so that she had to lean on him; there wasn't a single inch of space separating them. His golden eyes, gazing so intently into her face, were captivating, and when he spoke his voice was at its hypnotic silkiest, so that she couldn't help but hang on every word. "Elle, I-"

Someone knocked into them, the punch in their cup splashing onto Elle's bare arm. She yelped as the cold liquid hit her.

"Rosalie!" Edward exclaimed.

"You got sticky wet stuff on me!" Elle shrieked, glaring daggers at the goddess-like blonde.

"Oh no, I did, didn't I? At least the punch didn't mess up your dress too terribly. Let me help get it off you." She tried to pull Elle toward the girls' restroom, away from Edward, but he wouldn't let her go.

"What do you think you are doing with my date, Rosalie?" he hissed.

"Why, nothing, Edward. I only want to help." _Just cleaning up a mess, that's all. _

He scanned her thoughts; it seemed she honestly wanted to help remove the punch she had spilled on Elle, though he couldn't fathom why. Something fishy was going on...

_Edward, I'm your sister. _Rosalie's thought-speak conveyed wounded feelings. _Trust me. I would never do anything to hurt you. _

He sighed and released Elle. "I'll wait here for you."

###

In the restroom, Elle had to struggle to keep her power under control - there was something about being alone with Rosalie Hale that set her teeth on edge, made her feel like she needed to start zapping. But all Rosalie did was wet a few paper towels and carefully remove all traces of punch from Elle's dress and skin. Just like she'd said she would.

"There, good as new."

Elle checked and sure enough, her dress looked perfect again. "Thanks," she said grudgingly.

Rosalie smiled. "It's such a pretty dress; I'd hate for it to be ruined."

"Right... Well, I better get back to Edward." Never mind that she finally had an opportunity to interrogate another Cullen - she sensed that she wouldn't get anything from Rosalie, except possibly a catfight. Edward's inhumanly beautiful sister did not like her at _all_.

"Of course." Rosalie followed Elle out of the restroom - then grabbed her arm, stopping her from reentering the gym.

Elle's mouth fell open in shock, but she had no time to actually do anything before Rosalie picked her up as if she weighed nothing and ran - if running was the right word; she was so fast that it felt more like flying - down the hallway and out the door at the end of the hall, one of those doors built into the side of the school that served no real purpose except as an emergency exit in case of a fire. And a handy escape route if you wanted to snatch your brother's date without anyone seeing you.

It all happened too quickly for Elle to really process it, and anyway her mind seemed to have gone completely blank except for two words: _Oh _shit_!_

###

Back in the gym, Alice suddenly froze mid-twirl. Jasper stopped as well; picking up his mate's emotional turmoil from her latest vision had almost overwhelmed him.

"Alice, what is it? What's the matter?" he asked urgently.

She ignored him, instead addressing Edward, who was across the room waiting for Elle, telepathically. _Edward! Rosalie just grabbed Elle and ran outside! I don't know why - when they went into the bathroom together Rosalie only planned to talk to her, I swear!_

Edward didn't hang around to hear any more but left immediately at a normal walk, only picking up the pace to vampire speed once he was out of sight of the humans. He tracked Elle's and Rosalie's combined scent out of the school building, then lost it - because every other smell was suddenly overpowered by an awful wet-dog stench. Edward froze. _Dammit! Of all the moments those dogs could have chosen to make an appearance, why now? _

Sam Uley strolled around the corner of the building, infuriatingly unconcerned and relaxed, flanked by his pack-mates. "Hello, Cullen," he said pleasantly. "We really need to talk."

**So, it's not often that I actually ask for reviews, but this is one of the times that I really, ****really**** would like to know what you thought. Specifically: are you getting impatient to see some actual romance between Edward and Elle, or should I drag it out longer? and should something 'happen' to the wolf pack and/or Rosalie as punishment for their interference in something that really isn't their business? They have their reasons, of course - you might even say good reasons - but they're still being very meddlesome. And my final question: thanks to Maury's telepathic 'gag orders' Elle can't actually confess her true motives to Edward, but should she ****want**** to? **


	13. Warning

**Once again, not everything happened in this chapter that I wanted to, because other stuff took up too many words. Now I'm afraid that this may turn out to be one freaking long story. **

**Riana Kaiba: As per your request, Elle does kiss Edward in this chap! Happy-making, no?**

Chapter 13: Warning

Elle was freezing. Her thin, slinky dress provided only slightly more warmth than a coat of paint would have, and Rosalie's speed created a rush of cold air that made it ten times worse. By the time Rosalie put her down, all Elle wanted to do was curl into a ball to conserve what little body heat she had left, but the agent in her kicked in, spurring her to take action.

Quickly scanning her surroundings while never really taking her focus off Rosalie, Elle saw that they were in a sort of gazebo. The school buildings were still in sight, but all of them except the gym were deserted tonight. Closest to them was building three, where all the English classrooms were located; calling up her mental map of Forks High School, Elle calculated that the gym was too far away for anyone to hear her scream. She was on her own.

At least now she knew that super-speed was Rosalie's ability, which would enable her to escape if Elle started throwing sparks around - and so she held off, not wanting to scare Rosalie off just yet. The other blonde had also displayed extraordinary strength while carrying Elle away; she might have expected Edward to be capable of lifting her so easily, but not Rosalie. _There's more to her than meets the eye, and I wanna know what it is. _

"Wh-wh-why did you b-bring m-me h-here?" Elle stammered, trying hard to give the impression that Rosalie had succeeded in scaring her. Her impeded speech was actually due to her teeth chattering; it was _really_ cold out tonight.

Amazingly, the low temperature didn't seem to bother Rosalie in the slightest, even though her black dress, with its plunging-to-the-waist neckline and slit-halfway-up-her-thigh skirt certainly wasn't protecting her from the elements any more than Elle's was protecting her. Rosalie never shivered once, not even a little bit, didn't have her arms wrapped around herself like Elle did, and when she spoke her voice was cold and clipped, totally unhindered by chattering teeth. "I brought you here because I think it's time we have a little talk, girl to girl, don't you?"

"What ab-b-bout?" Elle began shifting her weight from foot to foot and rubbing her arms in an effort to warm up. She could practically _feel_ her lips turning bluer than her dress.

"Don't play dumb," Rosalie hissed. "You may have everyone else fooled, but not me. There's something _off_ about you, Elle Bishop, and I want you to stay away from my brother. Do you hear me, little girl?"

Adrenaline surged through Elle's veins, heating her insides; her arms dropped to her sides, and her jaws stopped clacking together. "I hear you, all right."

Rosalie smiled her satisfaction. "Good."

"And now I'm telling you to back the hell off."

It wasn't often that a vampire lost their composure, but right then Rosalie Hale lost hers. Her beautiful golden eyes popped wider than they had ever been before, and her perfect lips parted as her mouth fell open. _"What did you say to me?" _she hissed, sounding like a cross between a snake and an angry cat.

Elle, however, remained perfectly calm. "I told you to back off. Edward is mine now, and there's nothing you can do about it. And trying to threaten me just makes you look bitchy." As she spoke, Elle slipped her hands behind her back and gathered a charge in her palms; her bravado to the contrary, she knew she was probably in some danger - she was deliberately making Rosalie mad, and she strongly suspected that the other girl could pound her to a pulp if she had the inclination and half a chance.

Sure enough, Rosalie's fist flashed out faster than a striking cobra - but not at Elle. Instead she punched one of the four supports holding up the gazebo's roof. The wood splintered under her knuckles and the entire pole broke in two, causing the section of roof that it had supported to sag downward.

Although neither girl knew it, the school's landscaper had been urging Mr. Green to have the gazebo torn down for years, citing that the wood was old and probably half-rotten thanks to all the rain it had been exposed to since its construction in 1962. Mr. Green had promised several times to schedule the demolition whenever he could fit in into the budget, and last year he had finally come up with the necessary revenue. Then Coach Clapp had complained about the poor quality of the machines the football team worked out with, and the money had been spent on updating their exercise equipment instead of demolishing the old gazebo, in spite of the head landscaping technician's dire warnings that someday some hapless student would fool around in it and the whole structure would come crashing down on their head.

Thanks to Rosalie Hale, that day had arrived. Once the first supporting beam went, a chain reaction started and soon the rain-warped wood was only seconds away from total collapse. Elle made it to the steps leading down from the elevated platform that served as the gazebo's floor, but before she could climb down them the wooden planks under her feet buckled, pitching her down head-first. She landed on her stomach, and while the damp grass cushioned her fall, the unexpected contact with moisture caused her to shock herself.

Momentarily stunned, she didn't notice the huge pole falling toward her...

_Five minutes earlier_

"Hello, Sam." Edward couldn't quite keep the edge out of his voice, but apart from that he took care to appear as polite and nonthreatening as possible; they _did_ outnumber him three to one after all, and their thoughts made it clear that they wouldn't hesitate to phase and attack him. Besides, he told himself, there was no need for him to hurry away - although snatching Elle out of the gym was highly suspicious behavior, he couldn't believe Rosalie actually meant to hurt her. His sister wouldn't do _that_. So it was best to stay and see what the pack wanted, and maybe discourage them from spying on him. "If you want to talk, then talk. I'm all ears."

Paul took a lurching step forward, almost falling into a predatory crouch. "It's gotta stop, Cullen!" he growled from between bared teeth.

Edward put on a bewildered expression - revealing that he had an inkling of the pack's purpose in confronting him might give away his telepathic abilities, and he wasn't comfortable with them having that information. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about."

"He means the girl - Elle Bishop. You're awfully close to breaking the treaty here."

"No, Sam, it just so happens that I'm not. The treaty prohibits my family from entering La Push, hunting in this area, and biting anyone. I haven't done any of those things, as I'm sure you know."

"So you're saying you don't plan on changing the girl?" Jared spoke quickly, hoping to startle an honest response out of Edward.

Edward rolled his eyes - as if such an elementary tactic would work on him! - and replied in a tone of exaggerated patience, "No, Jared, I promise you that I have no intention of changing Elle into a vampire. Now that you know that, perhaps you can quit following me every time I'm near her? Catching your...scent...everywhere I go is really beginning to get on my nerves." The subtle inflection he placed on the word 'scent' made it clear that he would have used a different term if he wasn't being diplomatic.

"Oh yeah? Well we don't like having to breathe in your stink either, bloodsucker-"

"Paul!" Sam said warningly. "We didn't come here to pick a fight. Look, Cullen, I know you haven't done anything wrong _yet_, but do you really think what you're doing is safe for the girl?"

"Elle is my friend," Edward said, bristling. "I would never do anything to hurt her!"

"I'm sure you don't mean to, but accidents can happen." The disfigured face of Emily Young flickered across Sam's mind.

Edward's retort caught in his throat. He'd already given a lot of thought to how easy it would be to slip up, how just a second's lapse in his self-control could spell disaster for his fragile human friend, but he'd mostly avoided actually picturing what it would look like, instead concentrating on making sure he never lost control. Now that Sam had unwittingly given him a glimpse of exactly what he might do to Elle without even meaning to, he felt a renewed appreciation for how dangerous their relationship was to her. _I couldn't stand it if I ever- If she ever got hurt because of me. No. No, I won't let that happen- _

Suddenly his thoughts were interrupted by a distant popping, groaning sound, like a felled tree collapsing. _It must be that old gazebo farther out on the school grounds, _Edward realized. _That thing's been a catastrophe waiting to happen for years._ And then, because he was already worrying about Elle's safety, a sudden intuitive leap told him that that must be where Rosalie had taken her.

He bolted past the startled pack, past the dark shapes of empty school buildings, reaching the site of the mini-disaster just in time to see the roof come down, tilting at a crazy angle and sending the last supporting pole falling outward. Elle lay on the ground, directly in the heavy beam's path, but strangely she made no effort to get out of the way before it crushed her. "Move!" Edward bellowed, but didn't wait to see if she did. Springing forward, he caught the ten-foot-tall, eight-inch-diameter wooden column and hurled it away as easily as if it were a twig, then turned to see Elle blinking up at him. He dropped to one knee beside her and franticly asked, "Are you okay? Were you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine." She started to get up, moving faster than Edward thought was advisable for someone who might have suffered some as-yet undetected damage.

"Careful-"

She waved him away and tried to push herself into a sitting position, only for him to place a firm hand on her shoulder, holding her down. She began to get impatient. "I said I'm fine, Edward. Just fell down is all."

"I'm not one hundred percent sure you should get up; you may have broken something."

She huffed in exasperation. "I know what a broken bone feels like, and I can guarantee you all my bones are intact. Now let me up - it's cold down here. You don't wanna be responsible for me getting frostbite and having to have my toes amputated, do you?"

He rolled his eyes - something he had learned to do much more dramatically since meeting her - and effortlessly pulled her to her feet.

"Thanks."

"It's nothing."

"Not for giving me a hand - I could've got up without your helping me; I only let you since you have this hang-up about proving that chivalry isn't dead - I mean the other thing. As much as I hate to admit it, you kind of saved me."

For the second time in one night, Edward was forced to pretend ignorance. "I beg your pardon?"

"Save it, Edward. I saw you catch that beam that was about to fall on me."

He cursed mentally. "Well, you fell down; you must have hit your head." He considered mentioning that her shrinks had diagnosed her with paranoid delusions years ago, but couldn't bring himself to mess with her head to that extent.

Unfortunately for him, she wasn't falling for it anyway. "Oh _please_. You're gonna try to tell me I'm seeing things? Well, it might've worked...if I was a lot more gullible and if I hadn't already seen your sister punch through another pole just as big as that one, and my head was perfectly fine then. If she's strong enough to break a piece of wood that big, why wouldn't I believe that you can lift one?"

"Well...um..." _Dammit, dammit, _damn_ it! I always knew she was much too sharp. I hate being right all the time. _

"The bitch seriously needs her head checked," Elle continued, ignoring Edward's increasingly feeble attempts at evasion. "I'm pretty sure she just tried to kill me, and she absolutely pulled this lame intimidation routine on me." That fact seemed to upset her more than the part where she had witnessed Rosalie knocking down a large, mostly-solid-if-somewhat-rotten gazebo with a single blow from her dainty-looking hand. Stranger yet, she seemed more indignant than frightened.

"Why?"

Elle shrugged. "Oh, she wants me to stay away from you. And now I'm all wet _again_ and there're bits of _grass_ stuck to me, and it's freaking cold out here."

"Let's get you back inside," Edward suggested.

"Hell yes." Elle marched purposefully back to the gym; once inside, she headed straight for the row of tables that had been set up to hold everyone's coats, snatched hers up, and turned to go but found Edward blocking her way.

"Are you leaving?" he asked unhappily.

She couldn't make herself feel very sympathetic, though. "Yeah, I just wanna go home. I wish I could say it's been fun, but thanks to your psycho sis it really hasn't."

Edward followed her to her car, apologizing for the debacle their date had turned into until she relented slightly.

"Okay, I get that it wasn't your fault - I never said it was - I just don't feel like dancing anymore. But the part with you, before Rosalie butted in, was... It was nice. See you Monday, okay?" She stepped in close and brushed her lips over his cheek, dangerously close to his mouth, stunning him with the warmth of her touch, then got into her car.

He watched her drive away and tried to figure out what had just happened. His sister had threatened her, and he and Rosalie had both demonstrated their superhuman strength - Elle should be terrified, or at the very least forming plans to spread the news that the Cullens were even freakier than everybody thought they were. Instead she'd acted as if Rosalie was merely an annoyance, and didn't seem mad at Edward at all. In fact she had just kissed him. _And I liked it a lot more than I should have. I- _

At that moment the wind shifted; Edward's nose was once again assaulted with werewolf-stink. _Those meddlesome mutts!_ "What do you want now?" he snapped angrily; he was sure he'd been on the verge of a major revelation about Elle before they'd interrupted.

"We heard everything," Sam said grimly. "Your 'sister' could have easily killed the girl - you realize that, don't you? You _are_ endangering her life, Cullen, and it's our duty to stop that."

"I'll keep Rosalie away from her," Edward promised, voice tight. Oh yes, he was definitely going to do something about Rosalie.

"I'm sorry, but we can't take any chances. Stay away from the human, or we'll be forced to consider the treaty broken."

Edward wanted to believe Sam was bluffing, except that the alpha wolf's thoughts told a different story. The pack took their mission to protect human life seriously, and they honestly believed Elle's life was in danger from Edward. If he didn't stay away from her, they really would start a war. The worst part was that after tonight, he thought they might be right. 

**Next chapter: Edward confronts Rosalie, and we finally get rid of those pesky wolves. **


	14. Confrontations, Pt 1

Chapter 14: Confrontations, Pt. 1

_The Cullen house_

Edward burst through the front door, nearly ripping it off its hinges and interrupting Carlisle's and Esme's viewing of _Casablanca_, and headed straight for his room. The two physically older vampires exchanged worried glances - something was patently wrong with their 'son' - then Esme darted across the huge living room, blocking Edward's access to the stairs. "Edward, what is it? Did something happen at the dance? Did you and Elle have a fight?"

"No, Mom, I did not fight with Elle," Edward said wearily. He had to give Esme that much, if only to assuage her obvious disappointment - she had so wanted his first date to go well. "I don't want to talk about it. Can't we please do this later?"

Esme hesitated, reluctant to let him go until she knew exactly what was bothering him, but Carlisle said, "Let him go, love. He'll talk to us when he's ready, and until then you won't be able to wring a word out of him."

"Thank you, Carlisle." Edward gave his sire a brief smile, then proceeded upstairs to his room and collapsed on his leather sofa. He felt worn to the bone in a way he hadn't in all his immortal existence - vampires didn't get tired, never needed to rest - but this wasn't a physical weariness; rather, it was a similar feeling brought on by bitter disappointment. _I should have anticipated something like this. Really, what ever made me think I could have some kind of relationship with Elle - with any human? I must have been out of my mind... _

He lay there for nearly an hour, until he heard the soft purr of his Aston Martin's engine coming up the drive, alerting him that his siblings had returned. Then he launched himself off the couch, sprinted down the hall, skipped the stairs entirely by simply jumping over the elegant carved railing that ran around the upper floor, and threw open the front door before they had even turned off the car's motor.

Esme, surprised and a little alarmed to see him tearing through the house like a madman, shrieked, "Edward, what are you doing?" but he didn't answer, because now Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie were coming across the lawn from the garage.

With a low growl, Edward crouched and sprang from the doorway, crashing into Rosalie and lifting her off her feet with the force of his momentum. They ended up several yards further away from the house in a tangled heap, ripping up the grass where they landed. After a brief scuffle Edward pinned the blonde vampire, leaned over her and hissed in his silkiest, deadliest tone, "You're dead, Rosalie."

She frowned up at him, more irritated than afraid. "What is your problem, Edward?"

He slammed a fist into the ground less than an inch from her head, sending a spray of turf flying. "Don't. Fuck. With. Me," he snarled. "You could have _killed_ Elle!"

"If I had wanted to kill the human-"

"It doesn't matter if you wanted to or not! You could have easily done it by accident!"

By that time they had been joined by the rest of the Cullen family; Emmett attempted to grab Edward and pull him off Rosalie but Edward was too quick for him, leaping out of his reach. Rosalie got up, brushed her dress off, and went to stand beside her mate, glaring balefully at Edward.

He ignored everyone else's presence and spoke to her as if they were alone; the rest of the family would find out about the night's events soon enough anyway. "Did you know that the Quileute pack witnessed that little stunt you pulled?" he asked, then answered himself, "No, I can see you weren't aware they were there."

"The wolf pack? What were they doing there?" Emmett wanted to know.

"Why didn't I see them?" Alice wondered. Jasper, feeling her confusion and worry, projected a strong comforting vibe to her while also trying to subtly help Edward rein in his temper before he attacked Rosalie again. It seemed to work; Edward cooled down slightly.

"The wolves caught my scent on Elle when she went to La Push last weekend," he explained calmly, though there was still a certain angry tension in his muscles. "They spied on us, saw how close we were, and became concerned. Tonight they told me that if I don't stay away from her, they'll hold the treaty violated."

"_What?_ That's completely unfair!" Alice burst out, and Esme voiced her agreement.

"I think it's for the best," Rosalie said quietly. "Look, I know I'm the only one who thinks so, but you getting so close to her is wrong, Edward. She's not one of us, which is why I took her outside to try and convince her she should stay away from you. I swear, that is _all_ I meant to do - everything else really was an accident. She just made me so angry..."

"What you did was wrong, Rosalie," Carlisle said sharply. "No matter how you feel about your brother's friends, you don't have the right to interfere as you did."

"I was only trying to look out for him! For all of us!"

"Still, I believe you owe Edward an apology."

"I don't want her to apologize," he snapped. "The damage is done - now I have to give up my friend or risk dragging our family into a war with the pack, and of course I don't want that. I hope you're happy, Rosalie."

Emmett reached out a placating hand. "Hey, man-"

Edward once again slipped away from his favorite brother. "Just leave me alone. Please," he muttered as he started back to the house.

Esme almost went after him, but Jasper grabbed her arm, stopping her. "It'd be better to do like he asked and leave him be," he advised in an undertone. "He's really not in the mood to talk to any of us right now."

###

Monday at lunch, Edward waited for Elle outside the cafeteria and, when she showed up, quickly separated her from her classmates. "Go on and eat," he said impatiently when the other kids hung around, watching them curiously. "Elle will join you in a moment."

Jessica and Lauren were extremely reluctant to leave without finding out what was going on, but Edward's authoritative tone and the hard look in his eyes left no room for argument. They hurried through the cafeteria's double doors with the rest of their group, grateful for some reason they couldn't quite put their collective finger on to have some kind of barrier between themselves and him.

Elle indifferently watched them go, then asked Edward, "What's up?" They routinely met up after lunch and walked to biology together, but this was the first time he'd approached her before she'd eaten.

"I need a private word with you," he said tersely.

Her gaze flicked up and down the hall, which was currently empty except for her and Edward; everybody else was at lunch. "This is about as private as we can get at school, so talk."

He stared down into her eyes, so open and unguarded as she waited unsuspectingly for whatever he was going to say, and felt a peculiar tugging sensation inside his chest. Doing what he knew he had to do, what he should have done a long time ago, was turning out to be harder than he'd expected. What if he hurt her? He swatted the thought away like a stray fly; whatever emotional pain he might cause her now, it would be nothing compared to the damage their friendship could do - to her, to him, to his whole family - if he let it continue. _This is the best thing for everyone,_ he told himself for the hundredth time. "Well...I don't know how best to say this..."

"Try just spitting it out."

This drew an unwilling chuckle from the vampire; he was really going to miss her frank, straight-to-the-point ways. "All right, I'll spit it out. What happened the other night made me realize some things... My feelings toward you are different than I had thought, and it would be best if we quit spending time together."

A slight frown furrowed Elle's forehead. "Excuse me?"

"I didn't enjoy being with you nearly as much as I supposed I would - you are a magnificent distraction from the monotony of school, but our little date showed me that that's the extent of my interest in you. In fact, now that the novelty of having you around has worn off, I really see no point in continuing this 'friendship' - if that's an appropriate term. Honestly, it was more of a diversion for me, nothing more."

Elle's frown had deepened as he spoke, and the gray of her eyes went cold and hard as flint. He hadn't hurt her feelings, as he'd feared he would; instead he had royally pissed her off. "Well, screw you, then!" she spat. "Your loss, buddy." With that, she spun on her heel and stormed off into the cafeteria without a backward glance.

Watching her go, he felt that odd tugging again, only this time it was more like a painful wrench. She wasn't even out of sight yet, and already he missed her terribly. He decided to skip biology, not wanting to spend an hour being glared at or ignored by her, as he knew he would be if he put himself in the same room with her, let alone at the same lab table. She hated him now. And it was for the best. He repeated his new mantra to himself one more time, and still didn't feel any better about it.

###

Little did Edward know, it was completely unnecessary for him to ditch biology - Elle wasn't going there anyway. School was nothing more than a cover for her, a way for her to get close to the Cullens, but as of now she didn't _want_ to get close to the only Cullen with whom she shared a class. In fact, she doubted she _could_ get close to him without burning him to a crisp, and Daddy would be mad if all she delivered was charred remains.

She skirted the cafeteria's edges, keeping close to the wall and avoiding the notice of the people she normally ate lunch with, until she came to a door leading outside. She exited through it, proceeded straight to the parking lot, and drove away at top speed. Leaving Forks High behind just like that was exhilarating - or it should have been. Instead she spent the whole drive back to Port Angeles fuming over Edward.

She tried to tell herself it was just because he had made her assignment harder - that was definitely a factor - but it wasn't the only thing making her mad. If she was totally honest (which she usually wasn't, but there was a first time for everything) she had to admit that the main thing bothering her was Edward's rejection. The way he had brushed her off, as if she were utterly unimportant to him, reminded her of the dismissive treatment she often got from her father, and it stung deeply. _Well, Edward's gonna pay for this, _she consoled herself. _He'll be sorry. Diversion, my ass. _

###

It was only later, after she had calmed herself by purchasing several exquisite crystal figurines from a quaint little shop down the street and blasting them all into smithereens, that she realized the abrupt turnaround in Edward's attitude toward her was rather fishy. For someone who had never had a single friend in her life, she was sure that the camaraderie, the connection, between them had been real...so why was he suddenly insisting she was nothing more to him than free entertainment?

_It's almost, _she mused, _like the 'diversion' line was _meant_ to set me off...make me too mad to see what's really going on, maybe? _But what _was_ really going on? What could have made Edward decide he needed to ditch her? Elle racked her brain and came up with a fleeting image glimpsed in her rearview mirror the night of the dance as she drove away from the school. She hadn't really been paying attention and therefore couldn't be certain, but she thought she had seen Sam Uley and those other two guys who were always with him confronting Edward. But would he really have cut her loose because of them?

_Well, he did imply they were his family's 'enemies' - it sounded like something out of a bad mafia movie at the time, but maybe this drama between the Cullens and Quileutes, whatever it is, is more serious than I thought. _There was only one way to find out: go straight to the source. Since she would take chewing nails over talking to Edward at the moment, that left Sam as her only option. In any event, his staring at her that day on the beach had irked her enough that she wouldn't mind paying him a visit - and she wouldn't be going alone.

Humming softly, she picked up her cell phone and called her father. "Hi, Daddy. I've hit a little snag down here... No, nothing I can't handle. I just need to borrow the Haitian for a day or two..."

**Next chapter: Elle kicks werewolf butt, Edward realizes something important, and Alice tries to help him fix his relationship with Elle. **


	15. Confrontations, Pt 2

**Warning: this chapter contains angsty Edward, badass Elle, and a somewhat graphic torture scene which you may want to skip if you like Sam Uley. Only important stuff happens in that scene, so you probably shouldn't. Sorry. **

Chapter 15: Confrontations, Pt. 2

_18 hours later_

"The plan's pretty straightforward," Elle explained to the Haitian as they drove to La Push. "I'm going to talk to a guy, and when I'm finished with him you're going to erase certain memories from his mind. Can you do that?"

The Haitian didn't bother responding to her question - of _course_ he could do it - but he did cock his head inquiringly.

"All right, maybe it wasn't totally necessary to fly you down here just so you could wipe Sam's memory - from what I've heard about Police Chief Swan, I doubt he'd take someone reporting a girl who shoots lightning from her hands seriously. Still, better safe than sorry, right? I'd rather _not_ get arrested."

The Haitian nodded in agreement.

Elle checked her car's GPS, making sure she was heading to the right address, then focused her full attention on the road. After another fifteen minutes of driving in silence - the Haitian was always silent, and Elle wasn't in the mood for talking to herself - they pulled up outside a small house on the edge of the reservation. _Lots of trees between Sam's house and the neighbors', _Elle noted. _How convenient. _"Wanna come in with me?"

Her partner shrugged, indicating that he would accompany her or wait outside, whichever she preferred.

"You can come, just stay back. I might get a little rough with this guy and I don't want you getting caught in the crossfire."

The Haitian gave her a slight frown.

"No, I won't kill him, silly. What would I do that for? Oh yeah, because I don't like him - but if it bugs you, I promise to leave him alive. Cross my heart." She traced a T shape over her chest with a fingertip, then unfastened her seatbelt and pushed her door open, lips curling into a wicked smirk. "Follow me."

Getting into Sam Uley's house was ridiculously easy; Elle simply zapped the lock on his front door and went inside. If he wasn't home, she would wait until he returned. As it happened, she didn't have to wait long - she'd spent barely a minute inspecting his small living room before her attention was drawn by the sound of someone loudly clearing their throat, and she looked up to see Sam standing in the doorway between living room and kitchen, arms folded tightly across his chest. "Hey there," she said casually, as if she were visiting an old friend rather than breaking and entering.

Her relaxed, friendly attitude did nothing to soften Sam; his dark eyes remained as closed-off as ever as he stared impassively at her. "How did you get in here?"

"Oh, I broke the lock on your door," Elle chirped. "You'll probably have to replace it."

"And _why_ did you break into my house?"

"I need to talk to you. See, the funniest thing happened to me last weekend: Edward and I had a perfectly nice time at the spring dance - well, there was the part where his psycho-bitch sister tried to intimidate and possibly murder me, but that's a whole other story - then when I saw him again yesterday he ditched me, just out of the blue. Weird, huh?" She paused and, when she spoke again, let her wide-eyed, innocent act slip a bit. For the first time, a note of accusation sharpened her voice. "Then I remembered that I'd seen you with Edward in between times and I thought 'hey, maybe it's not such a coincidence after all'. Is it, Sam?"

A string of curses ran through the werewolf's mind; he'd thought that once he had helped Edward Cullen see the error of his ways, that would be the end of the matter. He had never dreamed that less than three days later he would find the leech's human pet in his home, stirring up trouble. _How's that for gratitude - I save her life, she breaks my damn door! _Anger coursed through him, making him tremble; he quickly brought himself under control, not wanting to hurt the little ingrate - that would defeat the whole purpose of protecting her from the bloodsucker. "I did you a favor, little girl," he growled.

"By scaring away my friend? Sorry, I don't see it that way."

"That's because you're just a...kid-" Sam substituted 'kid' for 'human' just in time "-and you're in way over your head. Now you're going to leave, or I'm calling the police." When Elle didn't move, Sam sighed. "Have it your way." He reached for an old telephone perched on a towering stack of magazines beside the threadbare couch.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

There was something in her tone that gave the werewolf pause - something cold and hard and...threatening? Was this tiny blonde human actually threatening him? Sam snorted at the sheer absurdity of it and continued toward the phone.

Behind him, Elle smiled maliciously; she loved it when people refused to take her threats seriously, giving her no choice but to act on them. She'd just known this muscle-headed jerk would be one of those types. She gathered electricity in her hand, then shot it from her fingertips, hitting Sam's hand just as it was about to grasp the phone, the intensity of her blast perfectly calculated to sting without doing any damage - she didn't want to really hurt him so soon. Then for good measure she fried his phone as well, not caring that it was mean to break it on top of his door.

Sam cried out in surprise and pain as he whirled around, searching for the source of the electrical charge that had hit him. His gaze landed on Elle, who held another charge in the palm of her hand and seemed totally unaffected by the bottled (or in this case hand-held) lightning arcing over her skin. "How-? What-? _What are you?_" Sam breathed.

"Someone you really shouldn't have messed with," Elle replied coldly. Mimicking Sam's wording when he'd told her to leave or get the police called on her, she said, "Now you're going to tell me what you said to Edward the night of the dance, or I'm going to fry you."

"I'm not telling you anything."

"That's what they all say at first." Elle blasted him again, this time taking it up a notch and holding it on him longer. "But eventually they all end up saying _whatever_ I want to hear." She let up, and Sam folded to the floor with a grunt of pain. Elle stalked across the room to stand over him. "You know what, Sam Uley? I don't like you very much." She gave him a smaller jolt. "Not that I do this to everyone I don't like, 'cause if I did then I'd be doing it all day...especially since I came to Forks High...but then you-" she paused to stick her foot under Sam's shoulder and flip him onto his back "-tried to come between me and Edward. And that _really. Pisses. Me. Off!_" She punctuated each of her last four words by zapping Sam, pouring all her frustration at his complicating her assignment and hurt over Edward's rejection into it.

When it became too much for the werewolf he decided to phase, just to scare the girl; unfortunately for him, the Haitian had heard Elle's raised voice and the crackling of her electrical discharge and walked in at the precise moment that Sam tried to make the change. The Haitian's dampening power worked automatically; with conscious effort he was able to pull his mental lead blanket off of Elle, but of course it never occurred to either of them that his powers might affect Sam. Consequently the werewolf found himself unable to transform, and when Elle finally stopped electrocuting him the skin on his chest, where her attack had been concentrated, stayed red and painful instead of instantly healing.

Elle examined the burns she had inflicted with almost detached interest, her head cocked in contemplation. "Does that hurt? I know it hurts when my power backfires on me, but I can shut it off fast if that happens. You don't have a way of stopping me doing it to you, though, so I guess it must hurt you even worse. _Doesn't_ it?" She resumed zapping.

Five minutes later, when his burns had turned a deeper, shiny red and started to blister, Sam admitted that it hurt.

Elle clapped her hands together in a mocking display of delight. "Yippee, now we're finally getting somewhere! So it does hurt, huh? Enough that you'd do a little something to make it stop? Like, maybe tell me why my hanging out with Edward upset you so much?"

"I can't talk about it."

"Not the answer I was looking for, Sam." Elle knelt beside him and ran her fingers over his burnt skin - gently, but the werewolf still cringed at her touch. "Maybe concentrating on your chest is a mistake," she mused. Her hand trailed down his abdomen, going just a bit lower than her victim was comfortable with. "You might be more forthcoming if I zapped a more _sensitive_ part of your anatomy."

His black eyes bulged. "You wouldn't."

Elle smirked. "Do you really want to test me?" She began gathering a fresh charge, gearing up to hit him again.

Sam, realizing he was in very real danger of becoming a neutered werewolf, caved. "All right! But I'm warning you-"

"I don't think you're in much of a position to do that."

"The truth might be more than you can handle."

"I can handle a lot."

"Can you handle knowing that your precious 'friend' is a vampire?" Sam fired the words at her like bullets, intending to shock her, and it worked. Elle rocked so far back on her heels that she lost her balance and fell hard onto her backside. A vindictive smile lit the pack leader's face when he saw her thunderstruck expression. "We were trying to protect you from him, you stupid little girl. Humans - always chasing what's worst for them. I don't get it."

Elle shook her head to clear it. Obviously her electric blasts had short-circuited Sam's brain. There was no point continuing this interrogation if he was just going to spout nonsense. She leaned in until they were almost nose-to-nose, the better to impress her final words on him. "Whatever Edward is, the stuff that happens between me and him is none of your business. You're going to stay out of it from now on. Remember that." She stood up and turned to the Haitian, who was leaning against a wall on the opposite side of the room, looking bored. "Wipe this little encounter from his memory - everything except the part where he isn't gonna bother me or Edward again."

_Meanwhile, at the Cullen house_

"Your human wasn't in school today," Alice announced as she barged uninvited into Edward's room, waltzed over to his state-of-the-art sound system, and shut off the depressing music that he had put on because it reflected his mood. "Have you even moved from that couch all day?"

"Why didn't she go to school? She's all right, isn't she? Oh, and she is not 'my human' any longer, Alice - not that she was ever mine in the common sense of the term, of course," he added, clearly pained by the words.

Alice smiled at Edward's obvious concern for the human girl. "As far as I know she's fine; I saw her meeting someone at the SeaTac airport...and then I lost sight of her for the rest of the afternoon. It was strange...but just a few minutes ago I saw her head back to Port Angeles, so I know she's okay," she said quickly, before Edward could start panicking. "I just don't know what she did during those hours when I couldn't see her."

Edward breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down.

Alice sat beside him. "You really miss her, don't you?"

"I do, even more than I'd anticipated. There's something different about her; she's one of the _very _few people I've met whose mind I actually enjoy having access to - she doesn't think the way most humans do, and she's never afraid to say exactly what she's thinking. She's the only human who isn't instinctively put off by me, who wouldn't even let me push her away when I actually _tried_ to...at least not until I hurt her, and I regret that more than almost anything else I've done."

"Because now she won't be your friend anymore?"

"Because I can't stand the thought that I've caused her pain! I feel for her in a way I've never felt for anyone else; I...I love her, Alice. I just didn't realize it until I lost her."

"Who says you have to have lost her? If you really love her, why let those wolves come between you?"

Edward laughed bitterly. "Even without them holding the threat of war over my head, there's still one minor problem: she hates me. As well she should - I said some rather cruel things to her."

_So just apologize. _Alice opened her mouth to voice her thoughts, but Edward forestalled her.

"No, Alice, I can't do that. How could I ever hope to justify my actions without telling her everything?"

"So tell her."

"No!" Edward growled. "I don't want her to know what I am! She'd think I'm a monster."

"You don't know that." _She might even think it's cool. _

"I sincerely doubt her open-mindedness stretches that far. Just let it go, Alice."

"Oh, you're impossible," she huffed. "Fine then, I'll leave you alone with your pessimism and your emo music." And she stomped off (slamming Edward's door behind her), went downstairs and into the backyard.

Jasper picked up her frustration and followed her outside. "What's the matter, Ali?"

She rolled her eyes. "Our brother. He's finally wised up and realized how he feels about that human-"

"About time."

"-But he's so sure she won't forgive him for ditching her that he won't even _try_ to make up with her! He is just so- Argh!" Alice vented her feelings by kicking at the ground, the spiky heel of her designer shoe stabbing into the velvet-smooth, immaculately trimmed grass.

"Well, he may be right. The Quileutes did say he was supposed to stay away from her," Jasper said reasonably.

"Thanks a lot, Jazz. If he really loves her, that pack of mutts shouldn't be allowed to break them up! Would you let some werewolf keep you away from me?"

"Of course I wouldn't."

"So you'll help me get them back together?"

Jasper groaned. "You're planning something that'll get us into trouble, aren't you?"

"Possibly..." Alice grinned mischievously. "But if we pull it off, Edward will quit moping."

Jasper took a moment to weigh the cons of going along with Alice's scheme, whatever it was, against the pros of not having to feel Edward's depression every second he was in the house. "I'm in."

**So did I go overboard with Elle electrocuting Sam? I'm sorry if I disturbed anyone. **

**Next chapter: Alice and Jasper take drastic measures to bring Edward and Elle together, sparks fly, and secrets are revealed. **


	16. Truth

**So here we have one of those pivotal chapters that change the course of the whole story, and it completely ran away from me in spite of my careful plan for it, until finally I had to just cut it off because the words would NOT stop flowing! It's another case of me wanting to do more to move the story along, and instead I ended up spending a ridiculous amount of time on a long Elleward scene. **

Chapter 16: Truth

Elle and the Haitian split up in Port Angeles; he drove to the airport at SeaTac to catch his flight back to New York, leaving her to return to the tiny apartment that had become her home away from home. She parked her car and then just sat in it, drumming her fingers nervously on the dashboard and trying to convince herself that there was _no way_ Sam Uley had gotten to her.

Still, the fact was that he had – not because he'd been so incredibly convincing, even though he'd clearly believed every word he said, but because his insistence that Edward wasn't human had made Elle think about certain things she had noticed about her friend but never dwelled on. For instance, she had never seen him eat or drink anything, she had regularly observed his eyes changing color, and there was his way of appearing out of thin air, the quick, silent, graceful way he moved... Those were hardly typical attributes, even for an evolved human…but did that really mean she should entertain the notion that he might not be human at all?

_There's only one thing to do,_ she decided. _Next time I see him, I'll corner him and make him tell me why Sam thinks he's a vampire._ She got out of the car and walked toward Port Angeles' single small apartment building, thinking vaguely of making a new entry in the notebook that had started out as a record of her missions for the Company and had also become a sort of personal journal during her time in Forks, because she thought the only high school experience she was ever likely to have was worth documenting.

She was jarred out of her musings by a sudden feeling that she wasn't alone. There was someone else in the parking lot with her, she could feel their eyes on her, but they weren't showing themselves. _Well this can't be good._ She positioned herself with a large van at her back, preventing anyone from sneaking up behind her, and prepared herself to start blasting if necessary. "Hello?"

"Hi, Elle." Two pale, disturbingly graceful figures melted out of the rows of parked vehicles; Elle recognized them as Jasper Hale and Alice Cullen. "We didn't mean to scare you."

Elle exhaled loudly, torn between relief that the newcomers were people she knew and irritation that they were Cullens. Anyone connected with Edward was _not_ someone she wanted to see at the moment. "What do you want?"

Alice held up her hands in a placatory gesture. "We-" Jasper shook his head slightly "-all right, _I_ want to talk to you, that's all. Jasper thinks I'm meddling."

"Is this about Edward?" Elle couldn't think of anything else Alice Cullen would want to discuss with her, and the look on the other girl's face confirmed it. "I'm with Jasper – you _are_ meddling. Why don't you butt the hell out?"

Jasper, angry at the way the human was talking to his mate, let out a soft growl. Alice shot a warning look over her shoulder at him, wordlessly telling him to back off – the human was already being more difficult than expected; she didn't need Jasper making things worse. "Look, Edward's really sorry he hurt your feelings-"

"He can't be that sorry – or does he not have the guts to come apologize to me himself?"

"Edward doesn't know I'm here. The idiot thinks it'd be best just to leave you alone, but he misses you even if he's too stubborn to do anything about it. I'm just trying to help my brother out."

"How nice of you. I'm still not sure what you want from me."

"I want you to talk to him. We'll give you a ride to our place."

"I don't want to!" Elle snapped.

"You're as bad as Edward," Alice complained. "He's spent the whole time since your little breakup sulking in his room, you've been ditching school just to avoid him, but neither of you is willing to sort out your problems! I've had enough of it."

Alice wasn't the only one who'd had enough. All Elle wanted was some time to herself, to just sit and _think_ for a while, and now this annoying pixie-like girl was lecturing her even though it was obvious the only one who had a problem was Edward. _He_ had dumped _her_ – if he wanted to be friends again it was his job to fix their relationship, not hers. She moved forward, intending to blast Alice Cullen out of her way and not really caring if she hurt her. Before she could release her electricity, however, her body froze up seemingly of its own accord and she passed out.

Alice caught her as her knees buckled. "Jasper!"

"She wasn't going to be reasonable, so I thought it was time to move on to plan B." Plan A was simply to talk to Elle and try convincing her to work out her differences with Edward. In the event that Alice couldn't persuade her, plan B consisted of Jasper putting her to sleep; the two vampires would then take Elle home with them, where she and Edward would be unable to ignore each other any longer.

"I didn't see her getting any more cooperative in the near future," Alice admitted. She shrugged, gathered Elle up and loaded her into the backseat of the Mercedes she and Jasper had borrowed from Carlisle (not telling him they wanted it for transporting an unconscious human, of course). "I still think you jumped the gun a little, but we may as well go through with the plan now that we've got her."

###

Elle didn't open her eyes right away when her consciousness returned, or make any move to get up – her last memories were muddled and the soft leather surface underneath her was completely unfamiliar. She wanted to take stock of her situation before anyone – assuming she wasn't alone – realized she was awake. Luckily she didn't seem to be injured, and she hadn't been tied up. Wherever she was, however she had come to be there, she concluded that she wasn't in any immediate danger.

Opening her eyes at last, she scanned her surroundings: the room was large, with gold carpet on the floor and fabric a shade or two darker covering two walls. The third wall was made entirely of glass, and the fourth was dominated by shelves holding more CDs than Elle had ever seen in her life and an ultra-sophisticated sound system. In the center of the room sat the black leather sofa she was lying on…and on the opposite end of the sofa sat Edward Cullen, so still and silent that she had remained unaware of his presence until her gaze landed on him.

Elle yelped in surprise and scrambled into a sitting position, drawing her legs up to her chest in order to put as much space between them as possible. This was due partly to her instinctive urge to get away from the person who had startled her, and partly because she was still mad at Edward. The fact that he had apparently been watching her while she was unconscious did nothing to make her feel better.

He stayed still as a statue, golden eyes wide and expression grim as he continued to watch her. When Elle's heartbeat slowed to its regular speed she asked, "Where am I, and what are you doing here?"

"You're in my house – my room, to be specific – which I believe answers both your questions."

"How'd I get here?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Um…Alice and Jasper showed up outside my building, and then I…blacked out? Oh crap – they kidnapped me, didn't they?" This made the second time that a Cullen had got the better of her. For a highly trained Primatech agent like Elle Bishop, this was embarrassing.

Edward grimaced. "Alice thought she was being helpful. I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's not your fault your siblings seem to have a bizarre fixation with snatching me. I'm not mad at you for _that_."

"I'm sorry for much more than my nosy sister, of course. I should never have said I didn't care about you; I never wanted to say those things, but it was for your own good."

"So Sam _did_ blackmail you into it." Elle nodded to herself. "I thought so."

"Excuse me? What makes you think Sam Uley could blackmail me into doing anything?" Edward asked sharply.

"I don't know – I don't understand what's going on between your family and the Quileutes, but you weren't exaggerating when you said they don't like you. You know, Sam actually thinks you're a vampire." Elle deliberately threw the words out there while watching Edward's reaction carefully, and he didn't disappoint.

He stiffened into a living statue; she had noticed on a few previous occasions that freezing up was how he reacted to stress. "Sam told you that?" Even his velvety voice was stiff.

"Only after I tortured him," Elle said slyly.

"And you believed it?"

"I know, it sounds pretty crazy. But there're things about you – your skin is way too pale and always cold, you never eat, you live in a place where the sun never shines… I wouldn't put it all together and think 'vampire' on my own, but after Sam put the word out there…I can see how some of it fits. And you're not denying it. So you really are…?"

He considered trying to deny being what he was, and perhaps he could have – he was a very convincing liar when he had to be – but he had told Elle enough lies already, and he was tired of deceiving her. "Yes. Congratulations – you've uncovered the enigmatic Cullens' dirty secret. I hope you're happy." He expected her to run away screaming. Instead she just eyed him curiously, as if he were some strange new science project.

"So it's your whole family then? Not just you?" More memories surfaced in Elle's mind: Edward's siblings, who all had the same pale skin and color-changing eyes as him even though they were supposedly unrelated, Rosalie's incredible strength when she had taken Elle out of Forks High on the night of that fateful dance, the way the cold hadn't seemed to bother her…and Edward had shown that he was also stronger than any normal human, which should have told Elle that he was more than just a telepath. _But hey, I'd almost been crushed by a collapsing gazebo. I was shell-shocked. _

"Yes, my family is made up entirely of…vampires." Edward hesitated for the briefest second before saying the word, as if it was harder for him to admit what he was than it was for Elle to process it. His eyes were fixed unblinkingly on her the whole time, watching her carefully as he waited for…something.

"What?" she asked irritably. "I've had a really weird day and I'm in no mood for your mysterious act, so spit out whatever's on your mind already."

"I don't know what to say. Do you know why we take pains to hide our true nature?"

"Because people would think you're nuts if you ran around claiming to be vampires?"

Edward chuckled. "That is certainly a concern, but not the main one. We are unnatural creatures, Elle-"

"You don't look that unnatural to me," she interrupted. "You're just Edward. I don't care what you are."

"You cannot begin to imagine what your acceptance means to me – what _you_ mean to me." His golden eyes were almost glowing with intensity now.

Elle slid off the couch and went over to the glass wall, pretending to admire the view as a pretext for escaping Edward's penetrating stare. Their conversation had suddenly become more emotional than she was comfortable with. Still, she had to say something; she couldn't let Edward's last words hang in the air. "You could say I'm predisposed to accept things other people wouldn't. I've been hiding something from you, too."

Edward glided across the room and joined Elle by the window, leaving less than a foot of space between them. Either he wanted to be close to her, or he took some perverse pleasure in violating her personal boundaries. She squirmed slightly but refused to back away – she was _not_ going to be scared by him, damn it!

"That's all right." His silky-soft voice sent a shiver through her, much to her annoyance. "You can have whatever secrets you wish to keep, or you can tell me. You can tell me anything."

_Not _anything_, Edward._ "I think it'd be easier to show you." She raised her hand to eye level and released the electricity inside her. The spark started in her brain and traveled from there down her spinal cord, lighting up every nerve in its path until it finally manifested in her hand. The current left her body through her fingertips and concentrated in her palm, forming a bright ball of blue-white light. "See? You aren't the only one who's different."

With substantial effort, Edward tore his eyes away from her hand and raised them to her face. "I knew you were different from the moment you refused to let me scare you away. You had just become my lab partner in biology and I wanted nothing to do with you – do you remember?"

"It wasn't that long ago."

"Of course not; it's just that my kind have a much greater capacity for memory than yours, and I didn't know if you found that day worth keeping. It couldn't possibly hold the same importance for you that it does for me."

"Really? I could've sworn you thought I was a pest."

"Well, you were – you disrupted the routine of my life-"

"You mean I made your life interesting," Elle corrected.

Edward rolled his eyes. "Yes, of course that was what I meant. Now, as I was saying, I've always known you were different but I never imagined anything like _this_." He allowed himself to look at Elle's electrified hand again; staring was rude, but it was hard to keep his eyes off such an unusual sight. "Doesn't that hurt you?"

"Nope, not unless I get wet. Water causes a kind of feedback that makes me shock myself."

"Your aquaphobia," Edward murmured as understanding dawned on him.

Elle nodded. "You have no idea how hard it can be to take a shower." She killed the charge in her hand. "So if you're a real vampire, where are your fangs? Do they retract when you aren't…what, feeding? Or…?"

"We don't have fangs, but our teeth are sharp enough to cut through nearly anything." Edward spoke quickly; he still had questions of his own for Elle, such as: "How did you come by this unique ability of yours?"

"I was born with it. How did you end up a vampire?"

###

They traded questions and answers for another half-hour, during which Elle learned that vampires weren't at all like what she had seen in movies and Edward learned that a small percentage of the human population had more in common with his kind than he'd ever imagined.

"Perhaps that's why you smell different from other humans," he mused.

Elle lifted a lock of her hair to her nose and sniffed. "I don't smell anything."

Edward laughed. "No, you wouldn't. Don't worry – I find your scent quite pleasant."

"And everyone else's?" They had returned to the sofa but weren't sitting on opposite ends of it anymore; instead they were as close as it was possible to be without actually touching, leaning toward one another so that their faces were only inches apart. Now Edward leaned away, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Hey, are you gonna tell me you think everyone else stinks?"

"No, Elle." His grave tone made it clear he didn't see the same humor in the question that she did. "Other humans – or rather, their blood – smell like food to me."

Elle blinked as she was once again hit by the fact that she was talking to a real live _vampire_, not just her best friend Edward. "Oh. So you do actually drink blood."

"Yes, that's one of the few things all the books and movies got right. My family and I abstain from feeding on humans and make do with the blood of animals, but the temptation is always there. That's why we avoid people as much as we can while still blending into human society – with limited success, as you've seen from the general attitude towards us."

Elle nodded, but her mind was still stuck on the 'everyone else smells like food' bit. _At least the temptation isn't there with me, so I don't have to worry about getting bitten. _

Edward smiled, a short-lived, ironic smile that he wiped away before Elle could question the reason behind it. Where she was concerned, the temptation _was_ there; just because he didn't want her for her blood didn't mean she wasn't tempting him in other ways…

**Next chapter: pretty much a direct continuation of this one, in which I'm going to do my best to finally get us out of Edward's room. **


	17. Restraint

**The writing of this chapter was disrupted by an outage in our internet satellite, which upset me enough that I feel like I was thrown off my game a little, so I apologize if it's not up to par. **

Chapter 17: Restraint

"So you basically have a choice of being social outcasts or risking giving in and biting someone?"

"Essentially, yes, but there are other factors – our isolation isn't entirely our choice."

Elle remembered at least two previous occasions when he'd hinted that most people sensed something about his family that repelled them. Now it appeared that those people had a good reason for avoiding the Cullens. _Maybe I would have avoided them too, if they weren't my assignment._

"I can't say that I mind it, though – close contact with any person makes it harder to tune out their thoughts. I would happily trade my 'gift' for another if that were possible - something more like what you can do, perhaps."

"I do have a much cooler power than you," Elle agreed; being able to zap annoying idiots was fun, and she knew she would hate having the mental voices of everyone around her clamoring in her head every minute of every day. If that was really what being telepathic was like, no wonder Maury Parkman was such a grouch. Then she wondered if she was bugging Edward at that very moment by thinking too much.

"Your thoughts aren't bothering me," he assured her. "Yours is one of the few minds I actually enjoy having access to - it's very original. Particularly when you imagine ways of making Jessica Stanley stop talking." He frowned suddenly. "Other minds, however..."

"Huh?"

"Carlisle and Esme," he explained. "They're wondering if I'm going to let you leave today."

It was then that Elle realized she had spent an awfully long time in Edward's room - long enough that his parents might have gotten the wrong idea about what they were doing in there.

The thought had no sooner crossed her mind than Edward told her she didn't need to worry about it; vampires had such sharp hearing that the ones downstairs could tell exactly what was going on in every part of the house. "Your reputation is safe with me."

She snorted. "Worry about your own reputation - you're the uptight one. Still, I do have to get out of here; it's getting late."

"Before you go, will you allow me to introduce you to my parents? Esme has wanted to meet you for quite some time."

"Okay." Elle uncrossed her legs slowly, wincing; her muscles ached after sitting in the same position for so long. Funny how she hadn't noticed the pain while Edward was explaining the ins and outs of being a vampire to her. _He's too...fascinating._

Edward smiled, showing off those perfect, gleaming, deadly teeth, which Elle suddenly noticed were just as impressive as a set of fangs. "Fascinating? Really?"

She glared. "It wasn't a compliment, Dracula. I've lost all the feeling in my feet thanks to you."

Watching her stretch her stiffened legs, Edward hoped her sitting with them curled underneath her for a prolonged period of time hadn't broken any of her blood vessels. There were so many things that could go wrong with a human body; they were so easily damaged. _Time to brush up on the proper care and keeping of humans,_ he thought, and laughed internally at himself. There was no instruction manual for that, and even if there was, he had to be the only vampire in the world who would ever have a use for it.

"How come you're suddenly responding to everything I think anyway?" Elle went on, oblivious to Edward's concern over her health.

"Because I can. Every minute that I'm around humans is spent watching anything and everything I say or do, trying to seem _normal_ - it's very...it isn't _taxing_, exactly, but it is frustrating. Restrictive."

"Tell me about it. Back home I could use my powers whenever I wanted; I could've scared the crap out of Lauren and Jessica. I _did_ scare the crap out of a few people, and they were a lot worse-" Her throat suddenly closed up, cutting off her words - and her oxygen. Edward pushed her back down onto the sofa and left the room at full vampire speed, but she was only vaguely aware of him - most of her being was focused on her useless efforts at breathing.

It only took her a couple seconds of oxygen deprivation to abandon any thoughts of finishing what she'd been saying; as soon as she did that, the obstruction in her windpipe vanished, allowing her to gulp in much-needed air. When he returned Edward found her bent over at the waist, her fingernails digging into the expensive leather of his sofa as she coughed and gasped like a drowning person who had just clawed their way to the surface. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"Fine...now," she managed between coughs, nodding in case she wasn't able to get her point across verbally.

"Here, I brought you some water." Edward held a glass to her lips with one hand while his other hand gently cupped the back of her head, making it impossible for her to turn away.

Elle drank the water, but she had already figured out that the problem was not something caught in her throat. Really, when she thought about it, it was pretty obvious. She had come too close to revealing too much, and the restraints telepathically embedded in her brain by Maury Parkman had kicked in. _Maybe I shouldn't have been so harsh about his weight... I wonder if Daddy knows the bastard's 'gag order' strangles me when I start to say too much?_ Elle thought not; she and her father might not always see eye to eye, and he might not be the most attentive parent, but she didn't believe he would want her hurt like this.

Edward's cold arms were still around her, his hands resting on her shoulders now, and she slowly noticed that he was extremely worried. It made her a little uncomfortable. "Hey, I'm fine." She wriggled out of his loose semi-embrace and stood up, hands on her hips. "If you still want me to meet your parents then take me to them already, okay? I really do need to get going."

Sensing that his friend was getting impatient - Elle displayed her moods so clearly that you didn't need Jasper's empathic talents to read them - Edward took her downstairs, where Carlisle and Esme were waiting. They hung back, waiting for Elle to come to them in an effort to not alarm the human girl; they knew Edward had told her everything, and although she seemed perfectly comfortable with him, they couldn't be sure how she would react to other vampires.

"They look so sweet together, don't they?" Esme murmured as she watched Edward and Elle come down the wide staircase.

Carlisle nodded in agreement. Edward shook his head almost imperceptibly at Esme, wordlessly asking her not to gush over them loud enough for Elle to hear. Unlike most teenagers, he never got very angry with his parents, but in this instance he thought he might get upset if they embarrassed him in front of Elle.

_We'll behave, son, _Carlisle thought at him. _Let's see her. _

Elle walked right up to Edward's 'parents' and stuck out her hand without showing any sign of being bothered by the knowledge that they weren't human. Edward wondered whether that made her brave or simply reckless. "Hi, I'm Elle Bishop. Nice to meet you."

"Carlisle Cullen. I'm very pleased to meet you as well," Carlisle said while shaking the girl's hand, the very picture of politeness, as always. "And this is my wife, Esme."

Esme took Elle's outstretched hand in both of hers and said warmly, "It's wonderful to finally meet you, dear - I wish I could say it feels as if I already know you, but Edward's been very secretive." She shot her son a reproachful glance.

"Mom!"

"Don't sweat it, Mrs. Cullen, he never said much about you either - I guess because he didn't wanna expose you guys' vampire thing."

Elle's casual way of referring to what they were was met with raised eyebrows from both Carlisle and Esme. "And you're okay with this, are you?" Carlisle asked cautiously. "The...ah...'vampire thing', I mean?"

She shrugged. "Sure, why not?"

"Your friend is quite an exceptional young lady," Carlisle remarked, smiling at Edward's expression as he watched Esme giving Elle the grand tour, which consisted mainly of Elle drifting through the huge downstairs space of the Cullens' house, inspecting whatever items happened to catch her interest while Esme provided commentary on the history of the furnishings and decorations the Cullens had collected over the years. _I approve. _

Edward purposefully ignored that, because at the moment there was nothing between him and Elle for Carlisle to approve of. "She certainly is exceptional, in more ways than one." He began detailing what he'd learned about Elle's special ability and what she had told him about other humans like her. To his relief, Carlisle was so fascinated that he forgot all about giving romantic advice.

###

Alice, Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie had vacated the house so that Edward could talk things out with his human without worrying about them listening in - at least that was why Alice, Jasper, and Emmett had left; Rosalie had gone with them because she still disapproved of Elle and wanted to keep her distance. The four were having fun 'practicing their stalking skills' on a herd of elk - the only prey currently available in the immediate area - when Alice suddenly frightened the animals away with a cry of frustration.

Emmett snapped out of his hunting crouch with an aggrieved sigh. "I thought we were gonna wait to scare 'em. What'd you do that for?"

"She just had a vision, obviously. What'd you see, Alice?" Jasper asked.

"Well, Edward and Elle are friends again-"

"Awesome!" Emmett cheered with his typical boyish enthusiasm. Rosalie scoffed. "Hey, if it means Eddie'll quit moping..."

"I suppose you have a point there."

Alice cleared her throat loudly, drawing Emmett's and Rosalie's attention back to her. "-But they're _just_ friends," she finished. "The idiot won't tell her how he really feels about her!"

"Maybe he has a shred of sense after all."

"Rose," Emmett muttered; he really didn't want to get roped into another debate over Edward's human.

Luckily Alice wasn't paying attention to Rosalie. "Carlisle and Esme want to meet Elle before Edward takes her home - there's just enough time for me to zip over there and give him a piece of my mind." She sprinted off toward the house.

"You don't approve of her encouraging Edward's relationship with this _human_, do you?" Rosalie hissed at Jasper.

"Doesn't matter if I do or not," he said with a shrug. "There's no stopping Alice once she sets her mind to something - and I wouldn't even if I could. Elle Bishop makes Edward happy, and he deserves that." He turned and ran after Alice.

Emmett grinned. "This oughta be good. Come on, Rose." He grabbed her hand and, after sighing loudly and rolling her eyes, she let him pull her along as he followed Alice and Jasper.

###

Elle wasn't pleased to see them. "You just said you wanted me to meet your parents - you didn't say anything about _them_!" she accused Edward. Her fingers twitched, itching to release the electricity inside her...

Edward's icy hand closed around her wrist. "Don't do it, Elle - please. It would mean a lot to me if you could get along with my family."

"She's feeling a little hostile," Jasper observed.

"Hardly surprising considering that you kidnapped her, is it?"

"Not me. _I've_ never done anything to her," Emmett protested with a slight pout.

"Hey!" Elle said loudly. "_She_ doesn't like being talked about like she's not here."

Alice danced - or walked, but she was so graceful that every move she made looked like part of a dance - right up to the human and took both her hands. Elle wasn't sure what to make of this gesture; she thought Alice was being friendly but, unused to people touching her unless they absolutely had to, Elle found her behavior disconcerting. "Don't be mad, Elle! Jasper and I just wanted to give you and Edward a chance to work things out, and if it helps I promise I'll never kidnap you again."

"Like you could now that I'm onto Jasper's emotion-controlling tricks - but thanks anyway. What about Rosalie?"

"You can be mad at her."

"Rosalie, I think there's something you need to say to Elle," Esme said pointedly.

Rosalie scowled (amazingly, it hardly detracted from her beauty). "Fine. Elle, I'm sorry for trying to frighten you." Her tone of voice made it clear that she'd prefer having her teeth yanked out over having to say this.

"And for taking me out to that old gazebo and trying to bring it down on my head?" Elle wasn't going to cut Rosalie any slack until all her transgressions had been listed and confessed.

"That wasn't part of the plan; I just lost my temper. You're very irritating."

Edward hissed warningly at his sister, but Elle just smirked and said, "Thanks."

Rosalie huffed. "Look, since I obviously haven't kept you away from Edward, why don't we just call it even?"

"I guess we could do that... Shake on it?"

Nose wrinkled in distaste, Rosalie took Elle's outstretched hand...and received a painful electrical shock. Elle smiled. "_Now_ we're even." Rosalie ripped her hand from Elle's grasp and backed away, her golden eyes wide in pain and maybe a little fear.

"What'd you do to Rose?" Emmett asked, with just a hint of a growl in his voice. Even though he disagreed with Rosalie's attitude toward Elle, he wasn't about to let anyone hurt his mate.

"She'll live - I just zapped her a little."

Emmett was puzzled. "You mean like with a joy buzzer?"

"Nope." Elle held up her hands, showing that she wasn't hiding anything in her palm. "I _am_ the joy buzzer."

"Elle is part of a small segment of the human population that has developed special talents similar to the ones certain vampires possess," Carlisle explained.

Watching him - seeing how animated he became as he began talking about evolution and a lot of other complicated stuff - Elle decided he was just a little too fascinated by her powers. _So what if I can generate electricity? You don't see me making such a big deal about them being vampires. This is boring - I _know_ what I am; I don't need to hear a doctor's opinion on it. And I'm getting hungry. _

"Would you like me to give you a ride back to Port Angeles?" Edward offered. "Seeing as your car isn't here?"

"Yeah, you can take me home."

_Way to go, bro. If she invites you in..._ Emmett telepathically provided a series of rather lewd suggestions as to how Edward could best take advantage of the situation.

Edward grimaced. "I'll see you later, Em - and when I do, please have your mind out of the gutter."

**Next chapter: finally we have some Elleward fluff! About time, eh?**


	18. Sparks Fly

**Sorry for the long wait between updates; got caught up in writing Revenant. Anyway here's the long-awaited (by me anyway) chapter where Elleward stop acting like just friends. **

Chapter 18: Sparks Fly

Elle glanced between Edward and Emmett, taking in Edward's exasperation and Emmett's gleeful smirk with interest. "What're you thinking that Edward doesn't like, Emmett?"

Emmett's grin broadened. "I was thinking that you and Edward should-"

"That's enough, Emmett!" Edward seized Elle by the hand and dragged her from the house.

"What the hell?" she screeched. "I was talking to him!"

Edward sighed. "He wasn't going to say anything important, Elle; he just wanted to embarrass me."

"Why?"

"Because he's my brother."

This answer mystified Elle; she wasn't aware that brothers had an obligation to embarrass each other and didn't see much sense in it. "I'm glad I don't have a brother then." Then a new thought struck her. When Daddy wanted to make her self-conscious, he did it by pointing out her shortcomings. Edward, as far as she knew, was almost sickeningly perfect - he had straight A's in school, didn't feed on human blood and never misbehaved. There just wasn't a lot of material for anyone to make jokes at his expense.

"Emmett's very...creative," Edward told her; he thought 'creative' sounded nicer than saying his favorite brother had something of a dirty mind.

Elle nodded understandingly - Emmett probably teased Edward for being _too_ perfect. "Want me to zap him for you? I guarantee he'll leave you alone when I'm through with him."

"No, I do not want Emmett zapped." Edward led Elle into the Cullens' garage, where she was distracted by their large automobile collection.

"Damn, you have a lot of cars."

"Yes, Carlisle has the Mercedes to drive in to work; the red BMW is Rosalie's, the jeep is Emmett's, you already know the Volvo is mine, and the Aston Martin over there is the car I use for special occasions. I wanted to take you to the spring dance in it, but obviously that didn't work out. Oh well, I suppose there's always prom."

Elle purposefully ignored that remark; if she had her way she would be out of Forks long before prom. "It's a very nice-looking car. I'm just wondering why you bother with cars when you can probably move faster without them."

"They help us blend in, although most of them are too expensive to be really effective camouflage. It's an indulgence; we all have a weakness for driving fast." He opened the passenger door of the Volvo for Elle, but she didn't get in.

"I don't wanna ride in that."

Edward closed the car's door again, frowning. "Elle, I can't take any of the others' cars without their permission, and the Aston Martin is too flashy for Port Angeles."

"I know, and I don't wanna use any of those. I want to see how impressive your vampire speed really is."

"Climb on my back, then - I'll show you speed." He smirked before turning his back on her.

No one had ever carried Elle piggyback before, but she had an idea of how it was supposed to work. She gripped Edward's shoulders, jumped, and wrapped her legs around his waist. It was strange to think that Edward was wearing her like a backpack, but she decided that being pressed against his cold, muscular body was enjoyable.

Then he launched himself out of the garage, into the woods, and Elle stopped thinking about anything more than clinging to him for dear life. Although it was only dusk, under the trees it was already dark as night; Elle's vision was limited, but she saw the trees, some of them massive, flashing past as Edward wove through them, and she knew that hitting any of those trunks at their current velocity would kill or at least seriously injure her. Her life was entirely in someone else's hands, and the lack of control terrified her.

Edward looked over his shoulder at her and rolled his eyes. "Elle, I won't let you smash into a tree. You're perfectly safe."

"You aren't even watching where you're going!" she retorted, shouting over the wind rushing in her ears.

Another eye-roll. "Honestly, Elle. Don't you trust me?"

"I don't know! I'm not big on trusting people!" _And why should I be? I'm pretty sure most people don't trust _me_, which is stupid. I follow orders...most of the time. _ "But I don't think you're _trying_ to kill me, so I guess I trust you a little."

Edward laughed. "Believe me, if I were trying to kill you, you would know."

###

Once they entered Port Angeles, Edward climbed the side of a building, much to Elle's dismay. "Um, Edward...would you mind telling me what the hell you're doing?" she asked as she watched the ground drop farther and farther below her.

"People would notice if I ran through town," he explained, "so we're going over the rooftops."

"Oh, right. Rooftops. That'll be...fun." She tried to sound casual but couldn't stop her voice from shaking slightly. "Just so you know, I'm not crazy about heights."

"Don't look down."

That, Elle quickly decided, was the least helpful advice she'd ever received. It wasn't so bad during the second or two it took Edward to cross a single roof, but his leaps between them were harrowing. If Elle had thought tree trunks whizzing past inches from her face was bad, plunging through empty space was worse. At one point she tried closing her eyes, only to immediately reopen them - not seeing just made the whole thing scarier.

At last, just when she was wondering how much more her shot nerves could take, Edward made a final jump and landed on the roof of her apartment complex. Elle scrambled off his back, reveling in the feeling of solid, unmoving ground beneath her feet. "This building doesn't have a roof access door. How am I supposed to get down from here?"

"I have an idea..." Edward climbed over the roof's edge and dropped out of sight.

"Hey!" Elle shouted. "If you leave me stuck up here, I'll-!"

He reappeared before she finished her threat. "Not latching your windows is a horrible habit to get into, but in this instance it's a good thing you didn't; I was able to open the window without breaking anything. Come here."

"What's my window got to do with anything?" Elle asked as she walked over to him.

Edward took hold of her arm and swung her down off the roof and into the open window. She went through feet-first and landed in a heap on the floor, much to her chagrin. Picking herself up, she saw Edward clinging to the wall next to her window, looking in at her. "What're you doing out there? Aren't you afraid you might be seen?"

"There's no one looking up here at the moment."

"Well, do I need to invite you in?"

"Vampires don't require an invitation to enter a human's home, but it seems politer to wait for one."

"You can come in, Edward." She stood back from the window, and he entered much more gracefully than she had. _That is _not_ fair! Oh well, I still have the cooler ability..._

Elle drifted off in the direction of her kitchen, her thoughts already turning to food. Edward followed her perhaps two steps before the ringing of his cell phone stopped him. He checked the caller ID, saw that it was Alice, and decided he'd better talk to her - if he didn't, she would just keep calling. "Yes, Alice, what is it?"

"You dodged a bullet earlier when Emmett was about to say that you and Elle should just make out already, but if you don't tell her tonight that you love her, then I _will_."

"Alice!" Of course Edward knew that his sister could be nosy; this, however, took the cake. "Of all the meddlesome, interfering things you've ever done-"

Elle poked her head through the doorway between kitchen and living room area. "Who're you talking to?"

"Alice."

"You can communicate with her from this far away?"

Edward turned so that she could see the cell phone held against his ear. "She's on the phone, Elle."

"Oh. I knew that." She ducked out of view again.

He resumed his conversation with Alice, but was unable to persuade her that just being Elle's friend would be enough for him. "Fine! I'll tell her tonight. Happy?"

"Very," Alice chirped. "Also, you should know that we're going to have a few non-cloudy hours after nine o'clock tomorrow, so we won't be going to school."

"Thanks for the heads-up. Anything else I should know?" If Alice's visions had told her how Elle might feel about dating a vampire, Edward certainly wouldn't object to hearing about it.

"Hmm...just that Elle's food is about to finish cooking - looks like she's having soup. I'll let you get back to her. Good luck." Alice hung up.

Edward returned his phone to its clip-on case on his belt just as Elle walked in, carrying a steaming bowl of ramen noodle soup. She sat down on the couch and patted the space beside her, inviting him to sit down as well. "What'd Alice want?"

"She gave me tomorrow's weather forecast. It's going to be sunny - yes, the sun does come out from time to time, even here - so I'll have to ditch school again."

This caught Elle's interest. Edward had told her that the sun didn't burn his kind like in the movies, but implied that they still needed to avoid it. He had, however, failed to spell out exactly why that was. _If I play this right, maybe I can find out._ Now she just needed him to ask her to hang out tomorrow.

Naturally, when she began plotting ways to do that, Edward knew. "There's no need for that, Elle. Of course you may stay with me tomorrow, if you want. I'd prefer to keep you close anyway."

Elle paused with a spoonful of soup halfway to her mouth, then slowly lowered it back to her bowl. This warranted further investigation. "And why do you 'prefer to keep me close'?" she asked, making her tone flirty out of habit. "How close do you want to keep me?" She scooted slowly across the gap separating them until her leg pressed against his, leaned in so their noses almost touched and she could feel his cool breath on her face. "Is this close enough?"

"Nearly." Edward decided it wasn't worth resisting any longer; the girl clearly wanted it too - she was practically _offering_ herself to him! He brushed a strand of hair out of her face, tucked it carefully behind her ear, then slid his hand down to grip the back of her neck. She reacted to his cold touch but didn't pull back. "Stay very still," he warned. Then he kissed her.

Elle had been half-expecting this for a while. She knew she was attracted to Edward - hell, even Maury Parkman knew; he had confirmed it on the day of the spring dance, not that she'd needed him to tell her how she felt - and she suspected that he felt something similar for her. She'd been around enough members of the opposite sex to know the signs, and Edward wasn't _that_ different, vampire or no. Kissing seemed like the logical progression of events.

She had not expected to enjoy it so much. Edward's chilly lips made this a kiss like no other she had experienced, but the biggest difference was the way he acted. No other guy had ever tried to take the lead with her, or held her, or been so gentle with her; the ones who'd been on the receiving end of her fingertip lightning bolts and didn't want another shock just sat there, taking whatever physical 'affection' she felt like giving them and trying not to provoke her, while the gutsier ones generally tried to cop a feel. Sometimes she let them, just because people who would willingly touch her were so rare, but she always stopped them when they tried to grope underneath her clothes.

Edward wasn't like that, though. In fact, he didn't seem interested in anything below her neck, and in spite of his cold skin, his kiss gave her a warm feeling she hadn't got with anyone else she'd tried kissing.

It ended all too soon. Electricity crackled from Elle's lips, giving Edward a painful jolt and causing him to fling himself away from her. He landed in a predatory crouch on the other side of the small living room table, growling softly, his instincts screaming at him to attack the apparently dazed human girl before she caused him more pain. Luckily for her, he had several decades' practice controlling himself. "What the hell was that for?"

"I...I don't know. I guess I overreacted a little. That's never happened before."

Edward straightened up and warily approached, circling the table. "Was that a positive reaction or a negative one?"

"Definitely positive. If you wanna try again, I _can_ control myself." People at the Company insisted on seeing her as an unstable, tantrum-prone child, but she knew she could do better. She _would_, if that was what it took to get Edward to kiss her again.

"We'll definitely try it again," he assured her, golden eyes smoldering, "after you finish your dinner."

Elle's eyes narrowed; however different he might be from her previous toys, _no one_ told her what to do. On the other hand, she was still hungry. _Maybe I should listen to him this once... If you're listening though, Edward, don't get used to it!_

She wolfed down the rest of her soup, which was now lukewarm rather than hot, rinsed her bowl and spoon and put them in the dishwasher, then headed to the bathroom.

While she showered, Edward explored her apartment. There wasn't much to it - just the living room area, tiny kitchen, bathroom (which he avoided), and Elle's bedroom. From his examination of these rooms, he learned that, first, Elle wasn't much of a cook - her food supply consisted mainly of frozen dinners, cold cuts and cheese, and an ungodly amount of ramen noodles - second, that her room was devoid of the decorations and personal touches most teenagers were so fond of, and third, that the apartment held no signs at all of her father, which concerned him.

He had already figured out that Mr. Bishop was an unloving parent, even an emotionally abusive one (though he hadn't crossed the line into physical abuse - Elle never exhibited any telltale injuries), but he couldn't believe that the man would have run out on his daughter. Elle thought of him as though he were very much a part of her life, but it was obvious that nobody lived in this apartment with her. Besides the fact that only her belongings were here, hers was the only human scent in the place.

The shower cut off, and moments later the sound of running water was replaced by a towel rubbing over skin, pattering feet, then the noise of Elle's hairdryer. Finally the bathroom door opened and she emerged, dressed in a powder blue tank top and white pj shorts. "Hey there. Ready to try that little 'experiment' again?" As she took in Edward's expression, she got a feeling that wasn't going to happen; he didn't appear to be in the mood for making out. "What is it?"

"Elle...where is your father?"

**Next chapter: Elle tells some white lies and half-truths about Bob, and hopefully we'll get to the meadow scene. Oh, and more fluff, of course!**


	19. Romance

**Warning: this chapter is devoted entirely to further developing the Elleward relationship (because I feel like it needs a lot of development to make these this pairing work) and contains copious amounts of fluff, brief discussion of Shakespeare, sociopathic!manipulative!Elle and Edward being, not exactly clueless, but…willing to be manipulated, I guess. Basically they're dysfunctional, but when you've got a controlling, stalker-ish vampire and a girl whose brain has been damaged by electric overload, how could they be anything else? **

Chapter 19: Romance

"Daddy?" Elle felt her flirtatious mood go down the drain; she was now shocked, dismayed, and annoyed instead. In the event that someone got too curious about her absentee father, the plan was for Thompson to pose as Mr. Bishop, but of course that wouldn't fly with a telepath. She was going to have to talk her way out of this tight corner. "What'd you bring _him_ up for?"

"Because I want to know where he is," Edward insisted.

His intense liquid gold eyes bored into her, but Elle didn't crack easily. "And how is that any of your business?"

Suddenly he was right in front of her, gripping her upper arms. "It's my business because it's obvious he doesn't live in this apartment with you, and leaving a sixteen-year-old girl on her own is highly irresponsible, not to mention illegal."

"Well you don't have to worry; he hasn't left me. Daddy's work keeps him very busy, so he's always going on business trips. He's in New York right now." That happened to be true - Bob Bishop _was_ in New York, he just wasn't there on a business trip. And he hadn't deserted her; he would take her back to the facility where he worked when her assignment was over. Of course he didn't live there full-time like she did, but he made sure she was cared for and visited her semi-regularly.

This information calmed Edward to some extent; he let her go, though he was still upset. "He shouldn't travel so far away and leave you here alone. Does he at least call to be sure you're okay?"

Elle shrugged. "I can get in touch with him if I need to, but I'm used to looking out for myself. It really doesn't matter, okay?"

"Your welfare matters to _me_."

"Why?"

"Because I love you, Elle."

This statement had a profound effect on Elle - her jaw dropped open, her eyes popped wide, and she mouthed silently at him for several long seconds before finally managing to say faintly, "You...what?"

"I love you," Edward repeated, wishing he'd kept his mouth shut. He hadn't intended to use 'the L-word' so soon - many of today's teenagers were uncomfortable with the level of commitment and emotional depth it implied, and those were just ordinary kids, not sociopathic ones like Elle. _Oh well, it's out there now. Nothing to do except wait and see how she takes it. _

Elle's head spun. He wasn't supposed to love her. He was a job, and somewhere along the way she had decided on making him her newest toy, but that was _all _he was supposed to be to her. She didn't delude herself into thinking that any of the guys she fooled around with in the facility loved her; in fact she suspected that most of them didn't even like her very much. Edward did, for some reason, though she expected that would change after she introduced him to her bosses. But if he _loved_ her... She was out of her depth here. "Edward...I..." She faltered, unable to think of a single appropriate response. She was so floored she couldn't even come up with an _in_appropriate one.

"You don't love me."

"I like you more than any other guy I know, and I let you kiss me. If that's not enough for you, go find somebody else."

"I don't want anyone else. Besides, feelings can change; I'll just have to hope yours will."

"Don't bet on it," Elle scoffed. "Sociopath, remember?"

Edward chuckled. "Yes, but does that mean you're incapable of love? I've seen you show other emotions; I know you have feelings, and I've never heard of a person who feels certain things but not others."

"So you're gonna try to make me fall in love with you?"

"That's the plan," he said cheerfully, "unless you object."

Elle gave an indifferent shrug. "I'm not sure it's possible, but before today I thought you being a vampire was impossible too. You can try whatever you want - but no fair using Jasper to influence how I feel."

"Of course not." Edward seemed offended. "That would be cheating. Anyway, I don't want to force you into anything."

"Like you could. Now shut up and kiss me." Unless you counted the boys who had clumsily attempted to flirt with her upon her arrival at Forks High, which Elle didn't, no one had ever pursued her like this; now that the initial shock was over, she couldn't wait to find out how she could use Edward's feelings to her advantage. She wrapped her arms around his neck and rose onto her toes, which allowed her to pass her leaning against him off as needing help to keep her balance. "You know you want to."

He complied, giving no hint that his mind was working furiously all the while. Elle was obviously seeing how controllable his love for her made him, and no doubt he appeared to be an easy mark for her manipulations, but he decided not to let it bother him. This was the way Elle was; the manipulative side of his chosen mate would probably never go away, so he might as well get used to it. Additionally, no matter what her motives for kissing him were, he couldn't deny that he enjoyed it. She might not love him yet, and he might not approve of physically expressing love without actually feeling it, but for now he was willing to take what he could get.

When they finally broke apart Elle's pupils were dilated, her breathing and heartbeat faster than their norm. "You're good at that." She sounded perfectly nonchalant, apart from a slight breathlessness.

"So are you. In fact, I'd say you're better at kissing than I am; I can keep it up longer because I don't need to breathe, but your technique is definitely...superior." He grimaced, hating to admit that there was something the human girl could do better than him.

"I've had lots of practice."

Edward's jealous, possessive streak reared its ugly head, demanding that he hunt down whoever had laid a hand on _his_ Elle, but he quelled the impulse - she belonged to him now, even if she didn't quite realize it yet, and that was all that mattered.

"...Although you should still be more experienced," Elle chattered on, unaware of how her previous statement had affected him, "since you must have a couple hundred years on me. How old are you anyway?"

"Seventeen," he answered tersely, "but I've been seventeen since the early twentieth century."

She frowned at his sharp tone of voice. "Is something wrong?"

"Did you have a boyfriend in New York?"

"No."

Her thoughts seemed to confirm that she was telling the truth - if she'd had a boyfriend, the abrupt question should have startled her into thinking of him, but no face flashed through her mind, much to the vampire's frustration. "Where did you get all your 'practice', then? Surely you don't kiss random men off the streets?"

Elle smirked. "If I do you'll never know about it - I don't kiss and tell."

Edward scowled. He was certain that she sometimes went out of her way to provoke him, which was completely unnecessary since she managed it often enough by accident.

###

At nine-thirty, he suggested that it was 'bedtime for the human', earning a disbelieving look from said human. "After the day I've had, you really think I can _sleep_? No way. I need to unwind first, maybe watch some TV."

"All right, but you should know your choices are limited after nine PM."

"Really?" In fact Elle knew no such thing, as she rarely stayed up late. "Well, there's gotta be _something_ on."

Moments later she sat sulking on the couch while Edward channel-surfed in search of something to entertain her, flipping through half a dozen infomercials before settling on some old movie. "What's that?"

"_Romeo and Juliet._"

Elle groaned in disgust. "Ugh, turn that off! It sucks!"

"You've seen it before?"

"No, I read the book… What? I'm not illiterate, you know."

"I know - you just don't seem the type to read Shakespeare."

"Mr. Bennet gave it to me," she said dismissively. "He said it would broaden my mind, whatever the hell that meant, and one day when I got bored enough I finally read it. It was supposed to be this great love story, but it wasn't very romantic when they killed themselves. What was the point?"

"The point is that they didn't want to live without each other," Edward explained, and watched as Elle struggled to comprehend.

"So…is that what love's supposed to be like? 'Cause, no offense, but I'm not interested in killing myself for you."

"And I don't want you to," he assured her. "I hope you haven't based all your notions about love on classic literature; it isn't the healthiest example."

"Well, I don't have a lot of other source material. I mean, I guess Daddy loves me, but he's hardly ever around, plus he's not exactly the touchy-feely type. Then again, he can turn the things he touches into solid gold, so maybe I'm lucky that he doesn't like to touch a lot- Hey!" Her musings on Bob were interrupted by Edward pulling her onto his lap.

"You have me now, Elle. And you will never be alone again." She squirmed but didn't shock him to make him release her; he took her eschewing her single formidable weapon as a sign that his affection wasn't truly unwelcome and held her tightly until she relaxed into his embrace. "See, this isn't so bad, is it?"

"Maybe not," Elle conceded, turning her head at an awkward angle so they were face to face, "but it is a little inconvenient."

She tried to bring their lips together, but Edward held her back. "Elle, stop. There's more to a relationship than just the physical aspect."

"But that's the fun part." She tried to kiss him again, and was again rebuffed. "Except when you're with a tight-ass vampire, apparently."

He ignored the jibe. "It may be the fun part, but as I've already told you it isn't the only part I care about. If that doesn't work for you, go find somebody else."

"Touché. All right, you win." She sighed. "You know, using my own words against me like that would normally get a guy electrocuted."

"Yet you aren't electrocuting me. Are you afraid to?" Edward wondered. "You shouldn't be - I don't enjoy it, but I promise not to bite you."

"I'm not worried about that."

"Then why-?"

Elle sighed again in obvious exasperation. "Because I don't want anyone else either."

_Next morning_

"Elle." He shook her gently. "Elle, wake up."

Her first conscious thought as her mind slowly came back online was that she must have slept through her morning workout and that Eden (who Edward surmised must have been her personal trainer in New York; she was certainly fit enough to have had one, and if what she'd said last night about her father's alchemical abilities was true he'd be able to afford such things easily) would be furious. Then she realized that the cold hand shaking her by the shoulder absolutely did not belong to Eden McCain. So Edward was still here. Maybe he'd never left. His presence was unexpected but not, he was pleased to note, unwanted.

The next thing she noticed was that she was in bed, although she was pretty sure she'd gone to sleep on the couch. Her eyes flew open to stare accusingly up at the vampire leaning over her. "How'd I get here?"

"You fell asleep halfway through that tedious Shakespearean tragedy, so I carried you in here thinking you would be more comfortable. Should I not have?"

Elle sat up slowly, running a hand over her face and through her hair in an effort to wake herself up more fully. "I don't like the idea of anyone handling me while I'm…um…"

"Unaware? Vulnerable?" She glared. "Or as vulnerable as you ever are," he quickly amended.

"Yeah. Since it's you, though, I don't have anything to worry about, do I? Back in your day you'd probably get burned at the stake for perving on someone while she slept. You wouldn't even drink my blood…would you?" She automatically fingered her throat, searching for breaks in the skin.

Edward pulled her hand away. "I have not bitten you," he said indignantly. "You'd know if I had."

"How?"

"Come on, you need to eat breakfast." She got the feeling he was deliberately avoiding answering her question but allowed herself to be ushered into the kitchenette anyway - she _was_ hungry. He was right about her needing to eat; she suspected he might be right about everything, all the time. It was irritating.

He watched critically as she stuck a couple of Pop Tarts in the toaster, then announced, just as she was about to take her first bite, that they weren't very healthy. She popped the sugary, artificially flavored food into her mouth anyway, chewed until she could speak around it, then asked, "So what?" with her mouth still half-full just to see if he'd react.

If it bothered him, he didn't show it. "Do you have any idea of the health issues that can develop later in life from poor eating habits?"

"Nope." Something that _might_ happen 'later in life' was no cause for concern to her, since with her high-risk employment she might not have a later, unless she got benched again.

"Well, you should! So many things can go wrong with the human body; you don't even realize how easily damaged you are. I'll do everything I can to keep you safe and healthy, but is it too much to ask for a little cooperation on your part?"

He expected an argument, but her only reply was a soft, "I guess not." It was too early to fight with him, and besides, he was only worried about her. That was…nice, to have someone who cared enough to worry, even if she couldn't understand why he did.

He smiled crookedly, pleased with her acquiescence. "Finish your junk food, then go and get dressed, please. We'll be spending the day outdoors, if that has any bearing on what you'll want to wear."

"Outside? I don't do-"

"Relax. I guarantee that the place we're going will be dry enough not to inconvenience you."

"Will I have to hike there?" she asked warily.

"It is a bit off the beaten track, yes, but you won't have to do any more walking than you'd like. If you get tired, I can always carry you."

Remembering how he had carried her home at breakneck speed the night before, Elle snapped, "That makes me feel _so_ much better."

###

There were no hiking outfits in Elle's closet, so she selected her most boring pair of skinny jeans, black Converse shoes, and a long-sleeved red-and-black-striped t-shirt. Then she added a plain black tank top that she usually wore while exercising underneath, just in case the long sleeves got too hot and needed to come off. She also put on eyeliner, mascara, and lip gloss simply because she always wore makeup, no matter where she was going or what she was doing.

Just as she completed her post-dressing ritual of checking herself out in the mirror, her cell phone rang. She picked it up, saw that it was Thompson calling, and quickly rejected the call. Edward was still in the apartment, and she couldn't risk him overhearing her talking to anyone from the Company. She would have to be very careful until she learned how sharp his enhanced vampire senses really were.

Sure enough, when she left her bedroom and found him waiting by the door he asked, "Who called you, and why didn't you answer?"

"It was just some guy. No one I wanted to talk to." She gave him a big, bright smile, the dazzling, charming kind you could hide any number of dirty secrets behind, and it worked. He wasn't the least bit suspicious. So much for his superhuman senses and telepathy. In spite of all the years he had on her and his superior physical abilities, she could control him, make him see as much or as little as she wanted, and that knowledge made Elle's smile a little brighter. "So…weren't we gonna go somewhere?"

**Next time: I will finally write that damn meadow scene that's so iconic I can't possibly omit it, and begin the next major arc of the story which was very subtly foreshadowed by Thompson's phone call. **


	20. Sunlight

**Last relatively slow chapter before things start picking up again! Whoever's still reading, thank you for your patience, and I hope to have something a little more exciting for you next time. **

Chapter 20: Sunlight

The road ended, and Edward parked - they were in Elle's car, but he'd insisted on driving since he was the only one who knew where they were going. "This is where we start walking." Elle hopped out of the car, surprisingly willing to take his direction for once, and headed for the hikers' trail past the end of the paved road. He hurried after her and caught her arm. "Not that way."

"We're not taking the trail?"

"I did say our destination was off the beaten track," he reminded her. "My offer to carry you still stands, if you're uncomfortable with traversing rough terrain."

Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "I can walk on my own, thanks. Just lead the way."

She quickly proved herself competent, negotiating natural obstacles such as tree roots, loose stones, and foliage with surprising dexterity for a girl whose previous experience of nature was limited to a single stroll around Central Park. Even more surprising, she wasn't completely miserable in the woods, though she stayed close behind Edward at all times as if expecting poison oak or snakes to appear at any moment.

"Here we are," he announced at last, after they'd trekked through nearly five miles of forest. "The place I want to show you is right through those trees. Go on, have a look."

Wary but trusting that Edward wouldn't have any unpleasant surprises in store for her, Elle went ahead of him, slipped through a narrow gap between two huge trees, and found herself on the edge of a perfectly circular meadow carpeted with thick grass and wildflowers. She had never been a nature enthusiast, but she had to admit that this place was beautiful, especially now, when the sun was directly overhead, bathing everything in golden light - which Edward was about to step into. "Hey!"

He stopped just short of leaving the trees' shade. "Yes?"

"Are you _sure_ you won't burn up when the sunlight touches you?"

"I'm positive I won't. Do I strike you as suicidal?" Without waiting for an answer, he moved out into the light.

Behind him, Elle gasped, and then he heard the grass brushing against her jeans as she approached. "Oh my God. _Wow._"

"Problem, Elle?"

"No, it's just that you're so…pretty."

He wanted to protest her use of what was generally considered a feminine adjective but didn't because now she was right in front of him, touching his face tentatively, curiously, as if he had become something entirely different from the person she'd been so comfortable with just last night. "How come you don't look like this all the time?"

"Our skin only reacts this way to sunlight, which is why we avoid it. As I told you before, it doesn't hurt us, but we can't let anyone see us like this."

"So you have to hide out during nice weather instead of enjoying it? Bummer," she said sympathetically. Then: "That means we're stuck out here until the clouds come back, doesn't it?"

"It's safest for me to stay where there's virtually no chance of meeting other humans. You, of course, are free to leave any time you'd like."

Elle snorted impolitely. "Like I could find my way out of these woods alone. I'm stuck with you - and I'm fine with it," she added before he could say anything. "I know you won't let me get lost or leave me, and I don't mind spending all afternoon here as long as you're with me. Now, I have some questions I didn't get answered yesterday."

"I thought I had told you almost everything about my kind."

"About vampires in general," she agreed, "but I still wanna know more about your family. Why you decided to be 'vegetarians' and how you became a…the word's coven, right?"

"It's a pity you didn't mention your interest in my family history yesterday evening - Carlisle tells the story much better than I do."

"I had enough to process yesterday. Anyway, I want to hear it from you." She laid a hand on his arm and purred, "I'd rather listen to you than Carlisle."

"Don't distract me, then."

She gave him her best 'wide-eyed innocent' look. "Am I supposed to know what that means?"

Edward's eyes narrowed. "You are the most dangerous creature I've ever met, and the fact that you appear so harmless only makes it worse." He brushed her hand off, stepping back just enough to reclaim his personal space. "Our story begins in London, where Carlisle lived as a human in the sixteen-hundreds, shortly before Cromwell's rule. His father was an Anglican pastor who devoted himself to purging the city of demons, and of course his son followed in his footsteps…"

Telling the story of Carlisle's conversion, subsequent struggles with his new nature, travels, and his eventual decision to create a companion of his own took some time, but Elle's attention never wavered; she hung on every word until at last he stopped talking. "…So what then?" she asked when his silence stretched on too long to be a simple pause for breath. "Carlisle had changed you, after a few years you'd adjusted to life as a vampire…and?"

Edward said nothing, and Elle realized he wasn't in need of prompting - he wasn't having trouble remembering the sequence of events; rather, he was reluctant to continue his narrative. "Did something bad happen in nineteen twenty-eight?" It was the only reason she could think of for his sudden reticence.

"No, nothing _happened_," he replied after a brief hesitation. "I _did_ something…terrible, something I still regret to this day."

Elle's interest spiked visibly. "What'd you do, have a cigarette? Or did you go really crazy and tag a wall?"

Edward barked out a short laugh, unsure whether to be flattered that that was the worst behavior she thought him capable of or sad that she was about to be harshly disillusioned. He just hoped she wouldn't react too badly to finding out that he wasn't the saint she seemed to think he was. "I never smoked or defaced public property - those are things humans do when they're feeling rebellious."

"What were you rebelling against?"

"Carlisle - I wasn't sold on the all-animals diet he imposed on me, and resented him for curbing my appetite. So I went off on my own for a time, and…gave into my natural instincts."

"To feed on human blood, you mean."

"And that doesn't frighten you? Repulse you?" He didn't mean to come off suspicious, but she'd taken his admission a little too calmly.

"Should it?"

"I killed people, Elle!"

"Yeah, I got that." _Does he think I'm dense, or what?_ She meant to reassure him, but it wasn't working - he was still giving her a tormented wounded-puppy look, like he expected to be rejected for his past sins any moment now. Saying something to make him feel better seemed called for. "I killed a man once."

There it was: Elle being completely unbothered by everything he revealed to her was too good to be true, so Edward had been waiting for the other shoe to drop, and now it had - his mate wasn't perfect after all. He hadn't expected to hear that she was a killer like him, though. _"What?"_

"He had a gun on me, so I fried him; his skin made a sizzling sound like bacon, and he kind of smelled like bacon, too. The shrinks said I should've been upset after doing that, but I wasn't. See, I understand where you're coming from."

"I don't think so - you killed one person in self-defense; it isn't anywhere close to what I did, no matter how callously you can talk about it. You aren't a monster."

"Neither are you - you killed for food like animals do, and no one thinks they're evil-"

"Because they lack comprehension of morality and the value of human life," he argued. "I understood those things, but I chose to end the lives of my prey anyway."

"And now you're sorry, and I'm not, so if either one of us is a monster it would have to be me - not that I think I am, but then I don't have a conscience-"

"I have to disagree with you there."

Elle's mouth twisted in an ironic smile. "Wait'll you hear what else I've done. I already said I tortured Sam Uley into telling me what you were; wanna hear just how badly I burned him? That hurting him didn't bother me at all - maybe I even enjoyed it a little? How about the guy I vented on when I had a bad day? All he did was give me a ride on his motorcycle and try to flirt with me, and I gave him a heart attack."

"Carlisle treated that man," Edward murmured. "He couldn't understand what brought on the heart attack because the man was perfectly healthy… That was you?"

She nodded. "So I stumped Carlisle? Cool."

"No, Elle, it is not cool. You can't do things like that!"

"Um, obviously I _can_." She smiled, pleased that she'd confounded Carlisle - doctors had been complicating her existence too long for her not to feel a vindictive little thrill at having caused one of them some trouble for a change, instead of the other way around.

"Yes, clearly you're capable of causing all kinds of trouble," Edward snapped, irritated by her smug remorselessness. "That doesn't mean that you should. Hurting people for the fun of it isn't right."

"Save the lecture; I'm not interested. If you're gonna be one of those guys that wants to change me into a better person, I might as well leave right now."

She actually started to stalk off, but didn't even make it to the trees bordering the meadow before Edward appeared in front of her, blocking her. "You said yourself you can't find the way back to your car without me. Also, you forgot this." He held out the red and black shirt she had taken off after half an hour in the sun.

"I'll take getting lost in this damn forest over listening to your moralizing," she huffed, snatching her shirt. "I've heard it all before, and that crap doesn't work on me."

"Okay, okay - I'm sorry. No more lectures on morality, I promise. Just calm down." He reached for her hand and got a mild electrical shock; in her anger, her skin had started to spark without her realizing it. He yanked his hand back, wincing.

"Did I hurt you?" Elle asked, reluctantly sympathetic although she was still annoyed with him.

"I'll live, and I've just learned that upsetting you is done at one's own risk - which I'm sure you would have taught me at some point. I suppose it's best I find out what I've gotten myself into sooner rather than later."

Elle frowned at his wry, resigned tone; he sounded like he was beginning a prison sentence. She wasn't _that_ bad, was she?

"Your comparison is more accurate than you realize. I've told you that vampires are immortal; what I didn't explain, because I didn't think you'd understand, is that it isn't just our bodies that stay the same forever - so do our minds, and our emotions to a degree. It's very rare for one of my kind to experience a real change - falling in love, for instance."

"You did mention that vampires mate for life." Elle had a very bad feeling that she knew where this was going. "So…are you not able to fall _out_ of love, then?"

"If there is a way for that to happen I don't know about it," he said evenly, eyes boring into her.

_Holy freaking hell, he's saying he's going to love me forever. _ "I can't be your mate, though," she protested weakly. "I'm not a vampire, and I never gave you permission to mate with me!"

"Believe me, it wasn't entirely my choice either! In fact, given your insensitivity to anyone else's feelings, I'm starting to think I couldn't have picked anyone worse to fall for if I'd tried!"

"Well why did you then?" Elle shouted. "If I'm such a bad person, how can you want to be with me?"

"Because you're not bad, Elle, just…a little wrong-headed. Because you are the only person outside of my family whose company I've ever really desired. Because the human world, in all its mind-numbing monotony, is so much less hellish since I met you. Before you transferred here, I used to liken Forks High School to my own personal purgatory, which I endured to atone for my sins-"

"You must've been really bored to come up with that."

"'Bored' is too mild a word. After we became lab partners, I started looking forward to school, just because I knew I would see you again. Are you beginning to understand now what you mean to me?"

"I'm getting there." She dropped her shirt and moved closer. "Let's kiss and make up now - you need the practice."

"Only you would offer reconciliation and insult me at the same time."

They kissed once, and then he decided to have some fun with her. Elle wasn't quite sure what happened; one minute they were standing, the next Edward was sitting with his legs folded up to his chest and she was on her knees in front of him, clutching at him for balance. "You're too short," he explained with a smirk. "We need to level the playing field."

"I'll give you a level playing field." She pushed him to lie down and ripped his shirt open, causing half the buttons to tear off and scatter.

Edward had a moment to reflect that Alice would either be upset that he'd allowed Elle to abuse brand new clothing, or pleased at having a good excuse to buy him something new. _As if any of us need more clothes._ Then Elle crawled on top of him, straddling his stomach and running her palms up his exposed chest, and Alice's probable reactions to his ruined shirt suddenly became much less important. "Ah…Elle, don't you think it's a bit soon to be doing this?"

"Well, you know I don't like to drag things out…but if it makes you feel better, I promise we won't go any further than this today." She leaned down to claim his mouth, and he kissed back, but other than that remained motionless and stiff beneath her. _Hey, you're allowed to touch too,_ her mental voice reminded him. _Relax. _

_If I relax too much I could kill you!_ he silently retorted, knowing she couldn't hear. Still, he didn't want her to think he wasn't enjoying this, so he raised his hands to her waist, lightly gripping her sides above her hipbones and below the bottom of her ribcage. Her spandex exercise top had ridden up slightly when she stretched herself out over his upper body, leaving an inch-wide gap between it and the waistband of her jeans; he rubbed his thumb hesitantly over the exposed skin there, and Elle hummed her approval.

Encouraged by her positive response, Edward moved his hand higher, feeling the synthetic fibers of her top, and under that the hard ridge of her spine, which would snap like a toothpick under his fingers if he wasn't careful, and damn, her kisses and her scent and the feel of her warm body pressed against his were chipping away at his self-control… He shoved her off him, jumped up and sprinted to the far side of the meadow, taking deep breaths of air not saturated with her scent to calm himself and thinking for the hundredth time that he must be crazy, or masochistic, or both, to have this girl as his mate.

_Primatech warehouse, Port Angeles_

Thompson hung up his cell phone, scowling. He'd just made his fifth call to Elle today and, just like the previous four times he'd tried to get hold of her, she hadn't answered. He was already annoyed that she'd had the Haitian flown out to Washington without telling him, and her failure to pick up her phone was only making him angrier. _I'm her direct superior on this mission, dammit - she can't just ignore me! Going over my head was bad enough, but this… _

He was beginning to suspect she was deliberately keeping him out of the loop, and he could think of only two possible reasons for her to do that. Either she hadn't made any more progress and didn't want to admit that she couldn't get results, or she was having too much fun pretending to date Edward Cullen and didn't want the assignment to end. Either way, it was time for him to intervene.

If Elle couldn't be counted on to carry out her orders, something would have to be done about her. He would have no choice but to report her to Arthur Petrelli, and even her father wouldn't be able to protect her then.


	21. Girlfriend

**Sorry for the prolonged lack of updates! I promise I haven't forgotten this story, and thank you all for your patience. **

Chapter 21: Girlfriend

"Elle, I have to go."

They had left the meadow around five o'clock when it began to get dark, and an hour and a half later were sitting in Elle's car, parked outside her apartment, when Edward made this announcement. His companion quit playing with her seatbelt and glanced sharply at him. "Go where?"

"Home, where else? By now my family are probably wondering if I've moved in with you - though Esme wouldn't mind in the least if I did."

Elle raised her eyebrows. "Can't wait to get you out of the house, huh? Nice."

"No, that isn't it. She's just happy that I've found-"

"_Don't_ say 'mate'!" Her almost angry outburst wasn't fair to Edward - it wasn't his fault that vampires were only able to fall in love once, and he'd confessed that he hadn't exactly chosen her as his mate of his own free will - but she couldn't help it. He expected her to love him, possibly to spend the rest of her life with him, and she had no idea how that was going to work out when the Company already owned her or if she even wanted it to. Right now there was nothing she wanted more than Edward but she didn't know if the feeling would last forever; she didn't think that far ahead.

"All right, if you don't like that word we can use a different one. How about 'girlfriend'? Will you be my girlfriend, Elle?"

Her eyes widened. "Be your girlfriend? Are we dating?"

"We've spent the whole day together, and I showed you the one place that, before I took you there, was mine alone - even my room isn't really private, what with Alice coming into it whenever she pleases; I would say that counts as a date."

Elle wasn't sure she agreed; she had imagined her first date dozens of times, just in case she ever got a chance to have one, and none of the scenarios she'd dreamed up involved tramping through a forest. _I _could_ count going to the meadow as a date, though…since I was with Edward. The shrinks would probably say that means I like him a lot - enough to try this girlfriend/boyfriend thing for a while, anyway. If it doesn't work out I can always dump him. _ "Okay then. You can be my boyfriend." She leaned across the seat, gave him a quick kiss, and then got out of the car.

Edward also got out, and a split second later was standing between her and her building even though her side of the car had been closer to the entrance she was heading for. "I'll be here tomorrow morning to pick you up for school. Good night, Elle." He tried to kiss her, intending to make it last longer than the brief peck on the lips she'd given him in the car, but stopped when she took a step backward, just out of his reach.

"You're taking me to school tomorrow?" she asked, frowning. "You want everyone to know we're…together?"

"Yes, I do. Do you have a problem with that?"

Elle thought that yes, she might have a slight problem with him laying claim to her so publicly; on the other hand, if everybody knew she was with Edward, Eric Yorkie would probably leave her alone, and she definitely wouldn't mind if he never hit on her again. Maybe there were advantages to being in an exclusive, committed relationship. "No, no problem. I'll try to remember to wait for you."

"I don't plan on making you wait," Edward retorted. He moved in, too fast for her to put any distance between them this time, and pressed his lips hard against hers, drinking in the sensations that accompanied kissing Elle: her touch, her scent, her warmth, the thrill of knowing that her impulsive, somewhat erratic mind was entirely focused on him for the moment - it would be several hours before he saw her again, and like a drug, prolonged exposure to the girl had only served to intensify his craving for her. He needed one last fix before he could make himself leave.

When Elle opened her eyes again he was gone, and her lips were smarting from the chill of his touch and the almost bruising force he'd applied. _Damn vampire._ Still, as annoying as his attempts at dominating her were, she couldn't deny that she enjoyed the challenge…just a little.

###

The first thing Elle did after entering her apartment was to turn on her cell phone, which she had left behind at Edward's request and turned off to conserve its charge. The little device immediately began a strident beeping, telling her to check her voicemail. Opening her inbox, she found five messages, all from Thompson, who sounded increasingly irritated with each failed attempt at reaching her. _Better call him before he has a cow. _

He answered on the first ring; Elle guessed he'd been sitting by the phone, waiting for her to call and stewing. "Where the hell have you been?"

"I was with Edward."

"All day?"

"Yes, all day - you were the one who said I should get close to him, and I told you it wasn't going to be easy. Well, I did it, and now he thinks we're soulmates. He's a little demanding."

"Are you in trouble?"

Elle could picture Thompson's frown; she actually thought he sounded concerned. "No trouble," she hurried to assure him. "Edward wants to date me, but he's not some crazy controlling creep." _Not as controlling as you anyway._

"Then you should have checked in with me!" Thompson snapped, his temper rising again. "Whether you're having a problem with your target or not, one of the conditions of this assignment was that you maintain contact with your supervising agent: me. Your lack of professionalism really needs to be addressed."

"I've done everything I'm supposed to!" Elle protested. "I couldn't talk to you with Edward around; Parkman's telepathic protection keeps him from hearing anything he shouldn't in my mind, but it doesn't do anything about his super-hearing."

"Edward Cullen has enhanced hearing as well as telepathy?"

"Yeah, all his senses are off the charts."

"People with more than one ability are rarer than hen's teeth," Thompson said skeptically. "Is your boyfriend an empath, or what?"

"I don't know!" Elle lied. "I just track down, investigate, and capture whoever you tell me to; I don't study them. I'm not a scientist!"

Her voice had risen until Thompson had to hold the phone away from his ear to avoid being deafened. "All right, all right! Cool it."

"Sorry. I'm just tired."

"Then I won't keep you up any longer. Get some sleep."

"Will do. 'Night, Thompson." Elle tossed her phone aside, pleased at having gotten the babysitter off her back. She hadn't planned on lying to him, but he'd put her on the spot, and it wasn't like she could tell him the Cullens were vampires. He would have her sent back to the shrinks, who would say her paranoid delusions had reached a whole new level. If she wanted to get her new secret off her chest, she would have to use her journal, like she always did.

She took her notebook out from where she had stashed it, turned to the pages where her notes on the Cullen assignment began, and drew a big X through her previous observations and conclusions in red felt-tipped pen. Under that she wrote a single sentence: _The Cullens are vampires._ For a long moment she sat and stared at the words on the page. She had just spilled her biggest secret, even if it was only to an inanimate object. Edward probably wouldn't approve, but it was kind of a relief. She skipped down a line and continued writing.

###

Elle's cell phone rang at six forty-five the next morning, waking her up. Making a mental note to never fall asleep with her phone right next to her ear again, she snatched it up and took the call. "Hello?"

"Did I wake you?" Edward's velvet-smooth voice asked. It was totally unfair that he could stay up all night and still be fresh in the morning while she sounded like a bear just coming out of hibernation.

"Yes, you did," Elle complained. "Why?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I'll be over in a couple of hours to pick you up."

_Pick me up? Oh right, he's taking me to school today. _ Elle grimaced; she really didn't want to go back to Forks High School, especially since she would probably be in trouble for ditching the last three days, but she couldn't argue without making Edward suspicious. After all, as far as he knew she was just a regular girl, albeit one with an extraordinary ability, and school was where she belonged. _I'll just have to play my part a little longer, but I need to start working on a way to end this mission._ There was nothing left to discover about the Cullens, and therefore no reason for her to stay in Washington; she only had to figure out what to put in her final report, and then Bob would probably want her back in New York.

"Elle?"

She made herself focus. "Sorry, my mind wandered. So you'll be here in a couple hours? That's fine."

"Is everything all right? You seem distracted."

"I must need a shower to wake up all the way. If you wanna come over sooner you could join me."

"In the shower?" Edward sputtered. On the other side of the Cullens' living room Emmett and Jasper were now openly watching him, not even pretending to focus on their game of _Halo _anymore, and smirking. "I think that would be a very bad idea, Elle."

She snickered. "How did I know you'd say that?"

"I'll pick you up when I said I would, and I trust that when I get there you'll be dressed and ready to go."

"You bet I will," Elle shot back. "I'm not letting you see me naked if you won't return the favor."

Emmett collapsed on the floor, roaring with laughter until Esme lowered her _Home & Garden_ magazine and asked him to keep it down. "And you," she added sharply to Edward, "I expect you to keep your telephone conversations in this house appropriate, young man."

"Sorry, Mom."

"What was that?" Elle asked. "Is your family listening in?"

"Yes, they can hear us both perfectly. You've made Emmett laugh hard enough to shake the house and got me in trouble with Esme."

"You're welcome. Later, babe." She hung up.

"Great-" Rosalie's bitingly sarcastic voice drifted down from upstairs "-you've progressed to the 'pet names' phase of your relationship."

Even Alice decided to have some fun at his expense. _If you want to get around Elle's insistence on quid pro quo, I can give you the show you're missing right now._ She focused her precognitive talent on Elle just as the human girl went into her bathroom and started undressing, picturing her vision in vivid detail.

Growling angrily under his breath, Edward grabbed the keys to his Volvo and hurried out to the garage. It was too early to go meet Elle, assuming he wasn't going to meet any cops on the road and would be able to make the drive at his usual speed, but he didn't care; right now he just wanted to get away from his incorrigible, insufferable siblings.

###

"We're gonna get put in detention again," Elle said glumly, slumping down in the front passenger seat of the Volvo as Forks High came into view. "You realize we've missed three days, don't you? We're toast."

Edward laughed quietly.

Elle suddenly sat up straighter and leaned over the armrest toward him. "We could still get out of here. Just keep driving. We could find way better stuff to do than sit in class."

"No, Elle. Your education is important."

"Our butts are still toast," she said darkly.

"I had Carlisle write you a note saying you've been out with the flu. You won't be in any trouble."

"Great! What's your excuse?"

"Someone had to take care of you while you were ill," Edward explained with a smirk. "You were too demanding a patient for Carlisle to handle on his own."

"What? I'll get you for that!"

Edward just smiled as if to say, _I'm sure you will,_ turned the Volvo sharply into the nearest available parking space, and got out. Somehow he managed to snag Elle's book bag right out from under her feet, forcing her to stick close to him as they made their way through the rows of parked cars to the cluster of school buildings - he'd obviously known that her method of retaliation would have been to ditch him the instant she was out of his car and decided to prevent her doing it.

They were early enough that there were still more people in the hall than in the classrooms, and they all stared when Elle and Edward came in - just the ones closest to the door at first; then, slowly but surely, every head turned in their direction as the news spread that the two mysteriously absent students had returned. Then Edward slid his arm around Elle's waist, and tongues started wagging.

_What the hell are you doing?_ she thought at him as he shepherded her down the hall. _Carrying my books, holding the door for me, and now this? What are you up to?_

He lowered his head to whisper in her ear, "I told you I want everyone to know we're together. I'm just letting them know. Am I making you uncomfortable?"

"No."

He didn't let go of her until they reached her desk, and then he gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before leaving to go to his own first period class. Eric Yorkie's face fell noticeably when he saw that, and Elle could have sworn Edward shot him a satisfied little smile on his way out. He was enjoying this way too much. _Well, if it were Lauren instead of Eric, I'd be doing the exact same thing. In fact, maybe I will when I see her. This could be fun._

###

In Port Angeles, Thompson was on the phone with Primatech's headquarters in New York. He had been suspicious after talking to Elle the night before; he was used to her being overly defensive when scolded, but when she claimed not to understand her boyfriend's abilities she hadn't just sounded defensive - she had sounded like she was lying. So he had waited for her to leave (it didn't escape his notice that she left with Edward Cullen) then poked around her apartment.

He'd stumbled on her notebook, which she had forgotten to put away before getting into the shower, and of course he read it. What he found inside convinced him it was time to call someone higher up the chain of command. He had expected the call to be fast and simple; he would report what he read in Elle's diary and get authorization to bring her back to headquarters for psychiatric evaluation.

Instead his call had been transferred twice, and now he was feeling like an idiot as he explained to Arthur Petrelli himself that Elle Bishop thought the subjects of her investigation were supernatural creatures. "If you don't mind me saying so, sir, I think it was a mistake to give Elle Bishop this assignment. We've always known she was mentally unstable, but now it looks like she's completely lost touch with reality. She believes in vampires, for crying out loud!" There was silence on the other end of the line. "…Sir?"

"Pick the girl up as soon as she gets back from school. I need to speak with her."

**Coming up in the next chapter: the baseball game, James and company, and Elle's time in Forks comes to a dramatic end. **

**Merry Christmas! For those readers who don't celebrate Christmas, I hope you all enjoy your holiday of choice. **


	22. The Game

Chapter 22: The Game

"Hello? Earth to Elle!"

Elle blinked and turned away from the classroom door through which Edward had just left to find Jessica Stanley's hand flapping in her face. "What?"

"You and Edward! I _knew_ there was something going on with you two! How long have you been together? Did you hook up before the dance, or was that your first date? And where were you the past three days?" Jessica gave an excited little squeal. "You had to have been with him, right? I mean, there's no way you were really sick."

_I've been back in school for about five minutes, and she already knows about my doctor's note? _Elle was almost impressed by the other girl's knack for gathering information - in another life she could have made a good agent - but also annoyed by the barrage of questions. Wasn't this sort of thing meant to be private? One look at Jessica's face, however, told Elle that she wouldn't give up until she got the scoop on Forks High's new couple to watch, so Elle decided to give it to her. It wasn't like she would tell her the truth anyway…

###

Elle didn't see Edward again until just before lunch, when she dumped her books in her locker before heading to the cafeteria. His approach was silent as usual, but she had been expecting him and was getting used to his way of seemingly appearing out of thin air; it was a vampire thing, and _not_ a reflection on her observational skills that she didn't notice him until he was literally breathing down her neck. "Hey Edward," she greeted him without looking up from her stack of textbooks.

He reached around her and shut her locker, being careful not to close it on her hand, then turned her around to face him. His hands were pressed flat against the row of lockers on either side of her, keeping her boxed in, and their faces were very close; she wondered if he intended to kiss her right there in the middle of the hall. "Aw, did you miss me?"

"I've heard some very interesting accounts of how we spent our short 'vacation' - mostly coming from Jessica, who swears she heard everything from you." Edward's flat tone made it clear he wasn't amused. "What did you tell her, Elle?"

"I basically stuck to the story about me being sick, but I may have…embellished it a little." She lowered her voice to just above a whisper. "I left the V-word out of it, though."

Edward's mouth twitched. "The 'V-word'?"

"Well, I thought maybe I shouldn't talk about that here. But okay, I didn't tell her you're a _vampire_."

"Thank you. But some of the other things you said-"

Elle snorted. "You've gotta quit worrying about your squeaky clean rep."

"Please; I don't care what these people think of me. You've just given Emmett more ammunition for the next time he feels like teasing me about you, that's all."

Elle gave him a quick, sympathetic hug. "I can shut Emmett up for you."

"That won't be necessary. But no more gossiping with Jessica."

###

Alice was waiting for them in the cafeteria. "You're sitting with us today," she said brightly, taking Elle's arm and pulling her toward the Cullens' table. "I already got your food."

"Oh?" Elle glanced back at Edward, who shrugged as if to say, _Just go with it._ "Did your visions tell you what I wanted?"

"Of course."

"You have some control over your ability, don't you?"

"I can look for certain things: the weather, the futures of people I know-"

"Me taking a shower?"

Alice glared at Edward. "You told her about that? Look, Elle, I'm sorry for invading your privacy that way; I shouldn't have done it, even if it was just to tease Edward-"

"Right." Elle feigned heavy skepticism. "You know you can just tell me you think I'm hot. I get it."

The vampires' reactions to this statement were mixed: Emmett found it hilarious, Alice was embarrassed, and Jasper, Edward, and Rosalie were all amused but hid it - Jasper didn't like his mate being messed with, Edward wasn't in the habit of showing much emotion at school, and Rosalie was determined not to approve of anything Elle said or did. "You're so modest too," she remarked scathingly.

"Rose," Edward growled.

Elle was genuinely surprised. "No I'm not. Where'd you get that idea?"

"Where have you been all my life?" Emmett asked when he was finally able to stop laughing.

Meanwhile, Alice was telling Edward about her latest vision. "This afternoon looks like perfect weather for a game."

This news obviously excited Edward but meant nothing to Elle. "A game of what?" she demanded, not wanting to be left out of the loop.

"Baseball," Jasper replied.

"Vampires play baseball?"

"It's the American pastime," Edward said seriously.

"I'll have to take your word for it; Daddy likes sports but I never got into them. So what's perfect baseball weather?"

"For us, it's a thunderstorm."

Elle raised her eyebrows quizzically; there must be a joke here that she was missing. "You play baseball during thunderstorms? _Why?_"

"You've gotta see it to understand. You'll come, won't you?" Emmett asked eagerly.

"Does she have to?" Rosalie whined.

They both looked at Edward to decide whether he would bring Elle to their game. "I'm not sure bringing her is a good idea," he said slowly, raising a hand to forestall Elle's protest. "It's not that I don't want you there, it's just that another of Alice's visions warned us that more of our kind will be passing through this area soon…and they aren't vegetarians. I didn't tell you because they won't go near Port Angeles - there's no reason to think your paths will cross if you stay in town, and I didn't want you to worry. But out in the field where we go to play-"

"Edward," Alice interrupted, "they aren't heading that way. Elle should be perfectly safe."

"You're absolutely sure of that?"

"The vision is clear, yes."

"And I want to go," Elle added, which put an end to the discussion.

###

When school let out she decided to go straight to the Cullens' playing field with Edward - driving to Port Angeles only to turn around and come back after an hour or two seemed like a waste of time. They returned the Volvo to the Cullens' garage, and then Edward carried Elle to the field. The sky overhead was filled with threateningly dark thunderclouds that completely blocked out the sun even though it wasn't even five in the afternoon yet, but Alice had promised that it wouldn't rain here. Still, Elle couldn't help shooting nervous glances up at those clouds.

Jasper, who had just marked out home plate feet from where she stood, sensed her anxiety. He was tempted to try calming her but had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate her emotions being tampered with. Talking to her would have to do instead, although he'd never intended to get any closer to Edward's human than he had to. The knowledge that she wasn't helpless prey made resisting her blood easier, though. "You can relax, you know."

"Easy for you to say - you don't know what water does to me."

"Alice said the rain won't fall here."

"What is she, the Pope? Last I heard, he was the infallible guy."

Jasper grinned. "You're funny; I like that. I can see why Edward's so much happier since the two of you got together…and I'm glad he has you."

The baseball diamond had been marked out; Edward sprinted across the field and came to a dead halt right in front of Elle. "It's time." Lightning flashed across the sky, and a clap of thunder nearly drowned out his words.

Elle shivered, excited both by the storm and by her boyfriend's almost contagious exhilaration. "Good luck. I'll be cheering for you." He had already informed her that her role in this game would be limited to spectator. She did however manage to help Edward's team a little by zapping Emmett, keeping him from touching third base just long enough for Carlisle to tag him out.

"Elle!" Esme scolded. "There will be no cheating in this game!"

"You're quite right, dear," Carlisle agreed; then he leaned close to Elle and whispered, "Actually, we cheat all the time - the key is to do it when Esme isn't watching."

"I heard that!" Esme's tone was a mixture of exasperation and affection. "Get back into the field before I make you sit out."

She kept a close watch on Elle after that as well as refereeing the game, so Elle grudgingly went on her best behavior and stuck to applauding Edward's superb fielding, playing the supportive girlfriend. It wasn't a role she'd ever expected to find herself in.

The game progressed with no clear indication of who might come out on top - the score constantly changed as the two teams one-upped each other, and Elle decided that if human sports were like this, then Bob's enthusiasm for watching Friday night football would be almost justified.

Carlisle was up to bat when something grabbed all the vampires' attention. Elle tracked their lines of sight with her own eyes and saw that they were all watching Alice, who had frozen, her eyes unfocused - probably having a vision. From the look on her face, whatever she had seen wasn't good.

Edward picked the contents of her vision out of her mind and ran to Elle's side, practically radiating nervous tension. "What's wrong?" she asked him.

"The other vampires have changed course. They heard us playing-"

"Not surprising." The noise produced when bat and ball connected, or when two vampires collided at the bases, was louder than the thunder.

"-And they want to join in."

"If that's all they want, then what are you worried about?"

Edward's eyes widened incredulously and his mouth opened, but before he could say anything Carlisle approached, looking grim. "Alice says we have only a few minutes until they arrive. Is that time enough for you to get her out of here?"

"No; anyway, the last thing we need is for them to catch her scent and start hunting. She'll be safer staying with the group."

"Wait a minute. You think these other vamps will come after _me_?" Carlisle and Edward stared silently at Elle - plainly, that was exactly what they were afraid of. "Why would they do that?"

"Because you are human," Carlisle explained as gently as possible. "This group isn't like us - they are predators first and foremost, and you are their natural prey-"

"I'm not anyone's prey," Elle said hotly, "and I'm not scared of them. If they want to hunt me, I say bring it on."

"You're very brave, but you wouldn't stand a chance against one vampire intent on a kill, and Alice said this is a group of three. We're going to keep playing and hope nothing happens to stir up a conflict. Edward, Esme will take your place as pitcher; you'll call it now, and _stay close to Elle_."

"This is ridiculous," she grumbled as Edward took up Esme's position on the sidelines. He held onto her protectively, his eyes darting over their surroundings, attention obviously not on the game at all.

"I am so sorry for exposing you like this; it has to be one of the most irresponsible, stupidest things I've ever done."

Elle just shook her head and ignored him - there was no getting through to Edward when he was in a mood like this.

The newcomers arrived soon after that. Their leader was a dark-skinned male with long black dreadlocks; the other male had long hair too, but his was blond and pulled back in a simple ponytail. Besides these two there was one female whose wild red locks tumbled chaotically around her pale, pretty face. All three were barefoot, and their clothing looked like it had seen better days.

Noticing Elle's surprise at these vampires' slightly ragged appearance, Edward whispered, "They're nomads - they live in the wild, avoiding people…except when they get thirsty." His voice was so low she read his lips as much as heard him. When the three nomads came closer, she saw that their irises were dark red.

_I can see why - they wouldn't have much luck blending in with those eyes. _

Edward nodded and moved in front of her, subtly shielding her from view.

"Welcome," Carlisle calmly greeted the nomads.

"Hello," the leader said politely. "I'm Laurent, and this is Victoria and James."

"My name is Carlisle Cullen, and this is my family, Esme and Alice, Rosalie and Jasper, Edward, Elle, and Emmett."

"It is a pleasure to meet you. Do you have room for three more players?"

"Of course; some of us were about to leave anyway. Emmett, why don't you take Edward and Elle back to the Jeep?"

"Sure, Carlisle," Emmett said easily. "C'mon you two." He planted a friendly hand in the middle of Elle's back and gently but firmly pushed her toward the woods.

They didn't get far before a gust of wind swept through the field, blowing Elle's scent straight into Laurent's, Victoria's, and James's noses. Laurent and Victoria were obviously surprised to see that the Cullens had a human in their midst, but James only smiled. "You brought a snack." He slid into a predatory crouch, his red eyes fixed on Elle's throat.


	23. Hunted

**I tried to break my habit of ending on cliffhangers, I really did…but I couldn't. Sorry for sticking you guys with yet another overly suspenseful ending. **

Chapter 23: Hunted

Edward was between them in a flash, mirroring James' attack-ready posture, animalistic growls issuing from deep in his throat. For the first time since they'd met, Elle was almost scared of him.

Laurent was astonished. "What's this?"

"The girl is with us," Carlisle said firmly.

"Of course she is. Keep your snack to yourselves, by all means."

Carlisle's expression hardened. "I said _she's with us_."

Laurent's eyes widened to saucer-like proportions; Victoria merely seemed puzzled, while James looked annoyed. "I am afraid I don't understand."

"My family's lifestyle is quite different from yours, especially in our attitude toward humans. This one in particular."

"I see." Laurent's tone was conciliatory as he tried to diffuse the sudden hostility between the two groups. "It seems we have much to learn about each other."

Carlisle nodded, relaxing slightly. "We maintain a permanent residence nearby; if you'd like to accompany us to our home I'm sure we can come to an understanding."

His interest obviously piqued, Laurent accepted the invitation. "Very well. And of course we will not harm your human pet - we don't hunt in territory that has already been claimed."

James glared at him, then glanced at Victoria, whose eyes flicked edgily from face to face. Her gaze kept returning to James, however, and Edward didn't need to read her mind to know that James was the one she really looked up to, not Laurent; he was the real leader of their little coven. For the moment, though, he took his cue from Laurent and backed down.

Edward realized this was the best opportunity to put distance between them and Elle he was likely to get. "Come on, Elle." He tugged gently on her arm.

"Huh?"

"It's time to go."

Finally she gave in and allowed him to lead her away, her usual defiance seemingly muffled by confusion. "What the hell just happened?"

"Later." As soon as they were under cover of the trees he pulled her onto his back and ran. Emmett and Alice had followed and tried to keep pace, but even carrying Elle he was faster. Any other time he might have let them catch up, but not this time, not when a tracker vampire had just set his sights on Elle - getting her away from James was all that mattered. He didn't break stride until he reached Emmett's Jeep and deposited her in the backseat. "Strap her in, Emmett."

Emmett climbed in beside Elle and buckled her into an off-roading harness, working quickly just in case she decided she didn't want to be strapped in and started discharging electricity. Luckily for him she didn't, at least not until Edward started driving alarmingly fast, crashing through foliage and even running right over a small log, which made her bounce crazily in the seat and threw her against the harness. And she still didn't know what was going on.

"Edward?" He showed no sign of having heard her, so she gave him a mild shock. "Don't ignore me, dammit! I want to know what happened back there!"

Edward sighed. "James is hunting us - more specifically, he's hunting _you_."

"Why? There're people all over…or am I too tasty to resist?"

Emmett laughed, much to Edward's annoyance. Alice just rolled her eyes.

"This isn't a laughing matter, Emmett! Elle, your blood isn't what James wants, or I should say it's not _all_ he wants. He's a tracker - the hunt is his obsession, and it just so happens that people like you are his favorite prey."

"People like me?" Elle's stomach lurched, and not because of the rough ground they were speeding over.

"Hunting other vampires is too dangerous, and ordinary humans don't present enough of a challenge. A human with special powers, on the other hand, makes for a very exciting target, and with my family protecting you he thinks this will be the best game he's ever played." Edward sounded disgusted. "He is set on you; Jasper put his best effort into keeping everyone calm once they arrived in the field, but still, if I hadn't got in his way he would have killed you then and there."

Elle took a moment to digest this. The idea of being hunted like she was some kind of animal whose head James wanted to mount on his wall was disturbing, and not at all what she'd signed up for when she accepted this assignment - also, it seemed unfair that this tracker vampire knew exactly what she was while she hadn't been aware that _his_ kind even existed until less than a week ago; the Company obviously wasn't as omniscient as they pretended to be - but still, it wasn't like she'd never been in danger before. All in all, the situation didn't upset her nearly as much as it did Edward. "Nobody's going to kill me," she tried to reassure him.

"I know, because I won't let him near you."

###

Edward drove at breakneck speed to the Cullens' house; the instant they arrived Emmett unstrapped Elle, folded her into a protective hold against his chest, and took her inside. The rest of the family was already there and, for some strange reason, so was Laurent.

"What is he doing here?"

Edward hurried to put himself between his mate and Laurent. "Relax, love, he's not here to attack you." He turned and glared at the red-eyed vampire. "James is tracking us," he announced. "He wants Elle."

"I was afraid of that." Laurent leaned toward Elle and sniffed the air. "Her scent tells me she's his type, but your defending her certainly didn't help matters."

"Are you saying I should have stood by and let him-?"

Carlisle held up a hand, quieting Edward instantly. "Can you dissuade him?" he asked Laurent.

Laurent shook his head. "Nothing stops James once he commits to a hunt. I've never seen anything like him in my three hundred years - he's absolutely lethal."

"We'll stop him," Emmett growled, flexing his muscles menacingly.

Elle rolled her eyes and tried to slip away - a plan was forming inside her head, one far more appealing than sitting back and letting the Cullens protect her like she was some helpless little girl - and she didn't want Edward reading it in her thoughts.

Unfortunately, he didn't want to let her out of his sight. "Where do you think you're going?"

"Bathroom." Elle suddenly realized that no one had ever told her if vampires had any use for bathrooms; it was hardly something she'd thought to ask about. "You do have bathrooms in this house, right? Ones that work?"

"Yes, of course."

"Then I'm gonna use one. And no, you're not coming with me!"

"All right. Go upstairs, fourth door to your left." That one should be safe enough since it was located in the center of the house, away from the windows. Anyway, Alice didn't expect James to attack their house tonight; he would wait to see if they left Elle alone, and they had hours before he would realize that wasn't going to happen.

###

Elle locked herself in the bathroom, and turned on the faucet in the sink to mask the sound of her cell phone powering up. She was relieved to see that it was receiving a strong signal, even out here in the woods. It began beeping almost immediately, the screen flashing a message that her voicemail inbox was full - of messages from Thompson, no doubt. _Well, I was gonna call him anyway. And the minute I get home I'm complaining to Daddy about him practically stalking me!_

She sent him a text message: _R u there? I'm in the Cullens' house, can't talk. Text me. _

He replied a moment later: _Where have you been? I waited at the apartment for hours. _

_ Been w/ Edward. S**t happened & I need to get out of here. I'll probably need backup too. _

Thompson smiled. When Elle hadn't returned to her Port Angeles apartment he had called Mr. Petrelli, and he had said he was going to assemble an extraction team, including Bennet and Eden McCain. One way or another the Company was taking back its rogue agent; if she came to them willingly, so much the better. He texted back: _I can do that. Can you meet us?_

_ When & where?_

_ ASAP at the Seattle facility. _

_ I'll be there. _

There was a soft tap on the door, and Alice's voice asked, "Are you okay in there? You've been running the water so long it sounds like you're trying to drown yourself."

Elle locked her phone's keypad, turned the faucet off, and opened the door. "Nope, not drowning myself. What do you want?"

"We've decided Edward's going to get you out of here while the rest of us take care of James and Victoria. Laurent doesn't want to be involved in this fight, so he's leaving town."

"Great." Running away wasn't really Elle's style, but running away with Edward? That definitely had potential.

"We need to trade clothes before you go-"

"Excuse me?"

"To mask your scent," Alice explained. "It won't fool James for long, but it should get you away from Forks safely."

She took off the moment she was dressed in Elle's clothes; by the time Elle got into Alice's baseball outfit and went downstairs at her slower human pace the place seemed to be empty of everyone except Edward. Before she could quiz him on the others' whereabouts, he swept her up and ran out to the garage, where the Volvo was already running - with the door up, of course, to prevent a carbon monoxide buildup that would suffocate Elle.

Once they were on the road he told her, "The others are out in the woods, laying a false trail. James is tracking them and the woman is in town, probably breaking into the high school to find your home address."

"They really think I'd be stupid enough to go home?"

"Most humans retreat to places they feel safe when they're threatened. Of course James and Victoria probably know I wouldn't allow you to go home, but they may hope to find a family member to hold hostage - you never know when a bargaining chip might come in handy. Your father isn't due back from New York this evening, is he?"

"No."

"Good." Edward reached over and took Elle's hand. "There really is nothing to worry about. Even if something goes wrong with our decoy, I'll make sure James doesn't get his hands on you. I'll do whatever it takes to make you safe again."

Elle offered a weak smile in return. "Thank you. No one's ever really gone out of their way for me like this, and I want you to know it means a lot to me." _Not that I really need protecting… It's just nice that someone cares enough to want to, even though I bet I could take on James myself. _

Listening to her thoughts, Edward didn't know whether to admire her or fear for her. She had to be one of the bravest humans - no, one of the bravest _people_, human or vampire - he'd ever met, but she was also the most recklessly, dangerously overconfident. And yet…if there was any human on the planet who could fight a vampire and come out on top, he would bet everything, including his piano and favorite car, that it would be Elle Bishop.

###

Carlisle called four hours later with bad news. "We almost had him, but then Victoria joined him and the two of them managed to evade us. I'm sorry, Edward. Alice says he's realized what we were doing and that he's on the right track now."

"And where is this track leading him?"

"Alice's visions show him in a multilevel parking garage; no way of telling the precise location, but it could be at an airport. Where are you?"

"Still a couple of hours from Seattle." Edward glanced at Elle, who had reclined her seat as far as it would go and was fast asleep, completely undisturbed by the hushed conversation. "I'd thought we might go somewhere from the SeaTac airport, though I hadn't picked out a specific destination - in light of Alice's vision, though, I think I'll be changing our plans."

###

Elle woke up on the covers of an unfamiliar bed, to the unfamiliar sensation of someone's arms around her. "Edward?" It had _better_ be Edward holding her, or they were in for a nasty shock.

"Yes, love?"

She twisted in his arms so they were facing each other, their heads resting on the same pillow, mere inches separating them. "Where are we?"

"Holiday Inn, Seattle."

"How's your family doing with James?"

Edward was surprised; although she wasn't making any effort to get up or move out of their intimate position, she was clearly in a straight-to-business mood, more like someone on a mission than a teenage girl alone in a hotel room with her boyfriend. Well, she had the right attitude - they couldn't afford to relax until the tracker had been dealt with. "He's very good - he saw through our ruse in just a few hours. We don't know where he and Victoria are now, but Alice had a vision suggesting he may be headed for an airport, so for the time being we'll avoid traveling by plane."

"Does that mean we're driving somewhere?" Elle hoped he wasn't planning to take her to some remote place like Alaska - she had an appointment with Thompson, and if she missed it the Company would assume she'd gone rogue. Then James and his partner wouldn't be the only ones hunting her.

"We're not going anywhere until we have a better idea of where the tracker is," Edward told her, and Elle relaxed a little.

"So what do we do now?"

"Lay low."

Everything went well for something less than an hour, and then Elle began exhibiting a classic symptom of sociopathy: inability to tolerate boredom. "Does laying low mean we don't leave this room at _all_?" she asked crossly.

"It would be better if we didn't."

Elle let out an aggravated huff and stalked over to the window, which was covered with heavy drapes. "I'm hungry."

"I can order room service," Edward said calmly.

"I don't want room service," she snapped, "I want to get _out_ of here!" She pulled the drapes aside and peered out. "There's a Starbucks down the street; can we go there?"

Edward sighed. "It's broad daylight out there, Elle, and the cloud cover is pretty thin. I had better stay here."

She whirled around, eyes wide and angry. For a moment he expected her to zap him, but she reined herself in. "Then I'll go by myself." She left the window and came closer, slipping into her sweetly persuasive mode. "I know you'd rather I stayed with you, but if it's too sunny for you chances are James won't be outside either. It'll be perfectly safe."

Edward reluctantly gave in. "Be careful."

"I always am." She kissed him before leaving.

###

In Starbucks she called Thompson. "Edward and I are in Seattle. Want me to bring him to the facility?"

"No, I want you to come alone."

Elle blinked. "What? My whole reason for being here-"

"Your only reason for doing anything is if we tell you to," he snapped, "and right now I'm telling you to leave your boyfriend and meet me. The Cullens are no longer your concern."

"Whatever you say. You're the boss." Elle rolled her eyes; being jerked around by her bosses got very tiresome sometimes. And it looked like her time with Edward was up, not that she had really expected to be allowed to keep him forever anyway. _Well, it was fun while it lasted. _ Suddenly, she wished their last kiss had lasted longer. Maybe the Company would decide to bag and tag him later, and maybe they wouldn't. Maybe he would find out who she really was, maybe not.

_He'd have been better off if we never met,_ she thought as she left Starbucks without waiting for the baristas to finish making her latte. _This must be what remorse feels like._ She caught a taxi on the street corner, shoved some money at the driver, and told him the facility's address.

"Primatech?" he repeated, nonplussed.

Elle nodded. "It's a paper company."

"Not too many teenagers interested in the paper industry," the driver remarked as he slowly pulled out into traffic.

"My dad works there," Elle said tersely, wishing he would just shut up - she wasn't paying for conversation. Hoping he'd get the hint if she appeared busy, she took out her cell phone again and texted Edward: _I had to do it. _ _Sorry. _ She wondered if they would ever see each other again, whether she would miss him for long if they didn't, if he would ever forgive her. It all seemed very unlikely.

The drive was short; after getting out of the taxi she headed for the facility's employees' on the third level of the employees-only parking area. It was just dark and quiet enough in there to be almost creepy. Elle wasn't bothered by the atmosphere, but then she heard another set of footsteps besides her own on the concrete. She jerked to a halt. The strange footsteps continued for a second before they too stopped. "Who's there?" she demanded.

A throat was cleared off to her right. She spun toward the sound and saw a familiar gray-haired figure leaning on a Company van. Elle growled softly. "Thompson! Were you following me?"

Thompson didn't answer.

"You know, you've been really anal over the last couple days," she said as she strode toward him, her shoes clacking on the concrete with a sharp, angry sound, "flipping out when I was a little late for my check-in, burning up my phone calling me practically every ten minutes, ordering me to forget my assignment and drop everything to meet you _right this minute_… I'm starting to think you have a thing for me. Which is kinda gross, by the way."

Thompson never said a word, or moved, or gave any indication he was even aware of her. It was beginning to get on Elle's nerves - being ordered around was bad enough, but for him to just stand there and act like she didn't even _exist_… "Hey, Thompson! Are you deaf?" She grabbed his arm and gave him a little shake…and he crumpled to the ground, eyes staring blankly, lifelessly upward.

"Thompson?" Elle squatted beside him, feeling his neck for a pulse. There was none, but his skin was still warm - he must have been killed just a moment ago. His eight remaining fingers were bent at odd angles; two had been cut off. _Looks like he was tortured before he died._ When Elle took her hand off his neck, his head flopped limply to one side, exposing a ragged tear in his throat. Something a ripped a chunk out of him - with their teeth, maybe? "Vampire," Elle murmured.

Someone clapped behind her. "Very good, Elle," James said pleasantly.

**Next chapter: vampire smackdown! Also, we learn something unexpected about James and the Company. **


	24. Exposed

**In response to reader complaints, I tried to end on less of a cliffhanger, but I couldn't entirely do away with the suspenseful element *cringes in anticipation of flying fruit* This is also the point at which this story pretty much stops resembling the plot of Twilight in any way and goes off in a whole new and hopefully more exciting direction. **

Chapter 24: Exposed

Elle slowly straightened up and turned around. "You got Thompson to call me? I thought it was weird when he told me to drop everything and come here alone."

"Smart little human. Luring you in was too easy, though. I'm disappointed."

"Does this mean the game's over, then?"

"Not quite - the game only ends when you die. You see, I began hunting your kind because you present such a beautiful challenge, but over the centuries I've developed a taste for the unique flavor of your blood…" He inhaled deeply and gave her an appreciative smile. "…And you smell very appetizing."

"I bet I do-" in fact she would have been offended if he didn't think so "-but my dad didn't raise me to become a vampire's dinner. Guess I'll just have to be the one that got away."

James took a sudden step forward, and Elle raised her hands, prepared to defend herself if he came any closer, but he didn't. They both just stood there, sizing one another up. James cocked his head, staring at her as if she were one of the most fascinating things he'd ever seen. "No, actually, you won't be. There is one other who escaped me; her foresight must have warned her I was coming for her."

"You hunted a precog?" Elle snorted. Everyone knew they were ridiculously hard to catch, since they usually saw you coming.

Caught up in the memory, James nodded. "In the old days she would have been burned at the stake for her visions, but in the nineteen-sixties parapsychology was all the rage and the government wanted to study her kind. It took me weeks to find her again after her parents sent her and her sister to Coyote Sands, only to lose her in a sandstorm. I still regret that I never got to taste…" He returned to the present with a sigh. "You can imagine how surprised I was to see her again last night."

"Last night you saw…Alice?" Elle gasped as she put together his story of hunting a precog with her mental checklist of who he had seen last night. "You hunted _Alice_?"

"Yes, I did. Well, I suppose this will be some comfort to her coven - I get you, but they get her."

"You haven't got me yet."

James smiled. "Oh, but I have. The trap is sprung; I just haven't closed it yet, but now I think we've spent enough time on niceties, don't you? It's time we finished this." And then he pounced.

_Fifteen minutes earlier_

Edward had stayed by the window since Elle had left, watching the street and waiting for her to come back, until Alice called. "Elle's gone!" She sounded frantic.

"I know, she was bored so I let her go to a Starbucks down the street-"

"You don't understand - she's not there anymore! Her plans changed so suddenly that I didn't see anything until it was too late. I'm sorry, Edward-"

"Never mind that. Where is she?"

Alice gave him the Primatech facility's address. "We're on our way - Carlisle, Emmett, Jasper, and I left Forks after we lost James and Victoria and we'll be there soon, but I don't think you should wait for us."

Not bothering to reply, Edward hung up. The elevators were too slow, so he broke the lock on a door leading to a flight of service stairs in the back of the hotel and ran down to the ground level. Just as he reached his car a beep from his phone alerted him that he had received a new text message, but he ignored it, throwing the phone away into the backseat the instant the car's door was open. He already knew where Elle had gone, and nothing else mattered right now.

He broke at least three traffic laws, ran five red lights, and got flipped off and shouted at too many times to count, but he reached Primatech's Seattle office in just a little over ten minutes, which was something of an accomplishment considering that it was several blocks from the Holiday Inn. When he saw the parking structure with its 'Primatech Employees Only' sign his heart sank - it looked just like the kind of place Alice had described from her vision. _Please, Elle, don't be in there. _

He got out of his car, hoping to catch her scent…which, of course, led right into the very place she _shouldn't_ be. Inside, without all the background noise from the street, he could hear hers and James' voices drifting down from one of the higher levels; she was still alive, at least for the moment. Edward started running, praying he would get to her in time.

As it turned out he did, but barely - he arrived just in time to see James preparing to spring at Elle and launch himself at the other vampire. They collided in midair and landed on a red sedan, crushing it. Edward immediately twisted away before James could get hold of him and leapt free of the wreckage, positioning himself between the tracker and Elle. "My family is on their way. You should leave now while you still can."

"Leave without finishing the hunt? I don't think so."

Edward bared his teeth and growled fiercely. "I won't let you harm her!"

James smiled. "And you're certain you'll be able to stop me, are you? You know, I saw how quickly you reacted when I threatened your little pet in the field where you were playing. You're faster than the others-" He rushed forward, grabbed Edward, and slammed him against one of the concrete columns supporting the roof "-but not stronger."

Elle had been holding back on using her power because Edward was in the way and she didn't want to hit him, but the instant she had a clear shot she aimed at James' back and blasted him with everything she had. He howled in pain and released Edward. "He does have me on his side though. That's gotta tip the odds in his favor, don't you think?"

Snarling furiously, James picked himself up and made another attempt at attacking Elle, but Edward seized his arm from behind and flung him away from her. James crashed into yet another car, this time making a huge dent in its side and rupturing the fuel tank. Seeing the gasoline spill out gave Elle an idea, but James freed himself from the car, which was bent into a curious semicircle shape, and ducked out of sight before she could carry it out.

Without a solid fix on the tracker's location, Edward backed Elle up against a van so he couldn't come at her from behind and placed himself in front of her.

_Edward!_ His head turned toward her for a brief second before he continued searching for James; he was listening. _Does fire kill vampires?_ He nodded. _I need you to open the gas tank on the van behind me. _

The metal gave easily under his fingers and he ripped it off, covering, cap, and all. At that moment James dropped from the ceiling directly over Elle's head. As Edward pulled her out of the way, she aimed for the exposed fuel tank and released her electricity. The gasoline ignited exactly as she had intended, and James was caught in the worst of the blast. She hadn't intended for Edward and herself to be so close when she blew up the van, though; the force of the explosion knocked them off their feet and hurled them apart.

Edward landed gracefully on his feet and immediately began looking for Elle, but thick smoke obscured his vision and her scent, and he couldn't hear anything from her, not even her thoughts - James' screams as he burned drowned out everything else. _This is why we tear our kind to pieces before burning them._ He quickly located the other vampire and ripped his head off, silencing him, then left him to be consumed by the flames.

"Elle! If you can hear me, answer me!" His shout was answered with a faint, _What?_ that sounded in his mind rather than his ears. Latching onto the thought, he tracked it to its source. Elle lay crumpled at the base of a wall, where the explosion must have thrown her. "Elle!"

Her eyes opened slowly as he stroked her face. "Did I get him?"

"Yes, James is dead."

"Oh, good." She smiled. "It worked."

Edward sighed. "Couldn't you have waited until we were at a safer distance before blowing him up, though?"

"He could've got away if I waited. Besides, you know me - impulsive…" Elle's voice trailed off and she frowned slightly. "Did I get hurt?"

"Are you in pain?"

"No." Her frown deepened. "I just feel numb."

He took her hand and squeezed lightly. "Can you feel this?"

"I don't feel anything. Is that bad?"

Edward was positive it wasn't good, but he didn't want to scare her. "Carlisle's on his way; let's wait for him to look at you before we-" The familiar sound of Carlisle's Mercedes reached him from the lower levels. "He's here now. Just hold on, all right?"

Elle looked at him strangely. "Well, I'm not going anywhere."

It seemed to take an eternity for Carlisle to drive up to where they were waiting; for the first time Edward wished his telepathy wasn't only one-way, that he could send his thoughts to others as well as hear theirs so he could tell Carlisle to _hurry up_. When the doctor finally arrived Edward shouted at him, "Carlisle, we need you over here! Elle's been hurt!"

Carlisle sprinted over, and Edward found himself pulled aside by his siblings while Carlisle examined his patient. "Did a bomb go off in here?" Emmett wondered.

_I saw what Elle did,_ Alice informed Edward through thought-speak, _but I decided you should be the one to tell them. She was brilliant._

Edward nodded; Elle _was_ brilliant. He just wished she'd channeled a little of that brilliance into taking care of herself. "She had me tear off the side of a van," he told his brothers, "and she ignited the gas."

"Blew the tracker to hell too from the looks of it," Jasper observed.

"Damn, I wish I'd been here to see that," Emmett exclaimed.

"It would have been better if we'd been here," Carlisle said, standing up and speaking quietly so that Elle wouldn't hear. "If we had been, she might not have been so badly hurt."

"What do you mean, Carlisle?" Edward asked anxiously. He scanned Carlisle's mind but came up with nothing; the older vampire's thoughts were carefully guarded.

"Elle's-"

"Someone's coming," Alice interrupted.

Minutes later, a Primatech van roared into the parking garage amid screeching tires and glaring headlights, and six humans jumped out and cautiously approached.

"What do you want?" Edward growled at them.

A tall man with horn-rimmed glasses who seemed to be in charge of the group raised his hands in a placating gesture. "Easy. We're just here for the girl."

"Elle isn't going anywhere with you," Emmett declared, taking a threatening step forward.

The man was unfazed. "As a matter of fact, she is. Eden!"

A girl with short brown hair moved up beside him. _**"Get out of our way."**_

The Cullens stepped back, clearing the humans' way to Elle; even though they didn't want to, they couldn't stop themselves from obeying the girl's command.

"Don't take losing her too hard," the man with the horn-rimmed glasses advised. "We sent her to you, and now we're taking her back, that's all."

"What do you mean, you sent her to us?" Edward demanded - Eden hadn't forbidden him to talk after all.

Noah Bennet sighed. The poor kid had obviously grown attached to Elle. _I'd better deal with this now so he can get over her and move on._ "We work for a company dedicated to understanding and helping people like Elle, and Eden here-" he put a hand on her shoulder "-and until recently we thought you were like them. Elle was sent to Forks to interact with you, 'study you in your natural habitat' if you will, and find out what your individual abilities were. Of course she ended up finding more than we expected, so the bosses in our organization decided she doesn't need to spend any more time on your family…or should I say coven? After all, we aren't vampire hunters." He looked over at Elle, and for a brief moment an expression of sadness crossed his face. "Unfortunately, it seems we got here too late. Somebody pick her up and let's get out of here."

"Wait," Carlisle said urgently. "Elle sustained a serious injury to her back in a fight with another of our kind. Moving her now could cause permanent damage."

Bennet shrugged. "That's not our concern." He nodded to a man with a medical bag who was performing a cursory examination of Elle's injuries. "Sedate her and get her in the van - the Company jet's waiting to take her back to New York."

The man nodded and carried out his instructions. Other members of their team took Thompson's body inside the facility; it would be shipped to his family later. Once their business was completed, they all piled back into the van and drove away, leaving the Cullens shocked and more than a little upset.

"If Elle really was part of some top-secret organization that 'studies' people-"

"She was, Emmett. I read enough in that man's mind to know he was telling the truth," Edward said quietly.

"Then why'd he tell us about it? Shouldn't he have kept it, well, secret?"

"Weren't you paying attention? Those people knew about us," Jasper snapped. "He told us everything because if we try to expose them, they'll do the same to us-"

"-And then the Volturi would get involved," Alice finished in a hushed tone.

"Do you really think they could do that?" Carlisle wondered.

"Expose us? Absolutely," Jasper said. "That man with the glasses was confident they - whoever 'they' really are - could handle any trouble we might try to make for them, and in my experience nobody's that smug unless they have a good reason to be. Also, he probably thought we'd let Elle go more easily if he said she was just here to spy on us-"

Jasper's words were cut off by the sound of shattering concrete; Edward had punched a hole in the wall. Jasper, Alice, Emmett, and Carlisle all froze. If Bennet's revelations about Elle were hard for them to process, then they must have hit Edward even harder. After all, he was the one who loved her.

Alice reached out, intending to offer comfort, but he slipped away from her. "Don't." His voice was unusually harsh. "Whatever you're going to say, if it's about her I don't want to hear it."

"What do you want, son?" Carlisle asked.

"I want to go home. We have no reason to hang around anymore."

**Next chapter: Edward struggles to reconcile his feelings for Elle with what Bennet told him, and Elle deals with the aftermath of her fight with James and that permanent damage Carlisle mentioned. Basically our favorite characters are in for a rough ride all around, and there will be much angst. **


	25. Paralysis

**Sorry for the long wait, guys; first I was taking time off to finish Revenant (which I did!) and then real life got in the way. **_**¡Pasé cinco horas en la tarea de español y tengo que hacer más mañana! **__**Pero tengo solamente tres más semanas de esa clase…**_** Anyway, I'm back now, and if I ever mention writing anything longer than a one-shot until I finish this, somebody slap me.**

Chapter 25: Paralysis

Esme and Rosalie were waiting when they arrived home. One look at Edward's face, and his adoptive mother knew something was very wrong. "What happened? Is Elle-?"

Edward cut her off with a low growl. "Don't talk about her. I never want to hear her name again." He ran upstairs, leaving Carlisle, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett to tell Esme and Rosalie what they had learned about Elle; he knew her absence would have to be explained but had no desire to sit through that explanation, to hear, laid out in excruciating detail, how the only person outside of the family he'd ever loved was nothing more than a spy and a liar. Nor did he want to see Rosalie's self-satisfied smirk or listen to her gloat about how she'd always suspected Elle was up to no good.

Her scent still lingered in his room, mostly on the couch where she'd sat on it the one time she'd been there. He shoved it against the wall, as far from him as he could get it. That hardly helped. _Esme has something to clean leather. I'll ask her tomorrow…_ But it was no use, and he knew it. Elle hadn't just left her mark on his couch or even the room itself; she had left it on _him_. She'd gotten inside his head and his heart, and she would always be there. Even if he refused to speak of her ever again, pretended she had never existed - not that his family would let him get away with that for long - he would never be able to forget her. There was no taking back the things he felt for her either.

That was the worst part, knowing that the person he loved more than anything didn't care about him at all - and in spite of that knowledge, he _still_ loved her.

###

Edward stayed in his room the rest of the night and ignored all attempts to draw him out, but the next day he returned to the communal areas of the house, determined not to waste any more time brooding over Elle. He was better off without her. Grieving over her absence after she had used him, lied to him and made a fool of him made no sense at all. Even being angry at her was pointless since he didn't intend to hunt her down for revenge; if he found her, he wasn't sure he'd be able to trust himself not to do something regrettable.

"I think that's for the best," Alice said when Edward informed his siblings of his decision not to go after Elle. "Although I couldn't get a very clear picture of the probable outcomes since you only considered it but never actually decided to do it, it seemed like you'd either end up killing her or falling for her again. Whatever happened, you'd be sorry afterward."

"If he fell for her tricks again he _should_ be sorry," Rosalie declared. "I knew there was a reason I didn't like her."

Edward sighed. "Yes, congratulations - you were right and I was wrong. Are you happy now?"

"Immensely - you hardly ever admit to being wrong. I am sorry you were hurt, though. I'm just glad she won't have another chance to do it again."

"She won't. I'm done with her."

"Are you sure about that?" This question earned Emmett a fierce glare from Rosalie, but he kept going. "I'm still not convinced that guy with the glasses didn't feed you a bunch of bullshit-"

"Emmett," Rosalie hissed, "shut up!"

The five vampires fell silent, listening for any sign that Esme was about to appear and scold Emmett for swearing. When it became clear that she wasn't, their discussion resumed. "Emmett has a point," Alice said. "You once told me that it's possible for some people to lie with their thoughts."

"Yes, and I have no doubt that the man who took Elle away is one of those people. I wouldn't have believed him based solely on what I heard in his mind; it was Jasper who convinced me."

Jasper's eyebrows lifted slightly. "Me?"

"You taught me that when someone's lying they're usually nervous, or smug if they're sure they can pull it off, but you didn't feel any anxiety or smugness from the man with the glasses."

That was true; Jasper remembered it very well. All he'd felt from the man was pity, as if he was genuinely sorry Edward had bought Elle's act so thoroughly. Or maybe it was Elle he pitied, since they were colleagues and she had been hurt.

Emmett scratched his head. "So let me get this straight: you know Mr. Horn-Rimmed Glasses was telling the truth about Elle because Jasper read his emotions, which you got from Jasper's mind?"

"Precisely."

"Well, if you're sure you aren't making a mistake… It's too bad; I thought Elle seemed okay. I guess you can never really tell about people." Emmett ambled off and Rosalie went with him, confident that the matter was settled and Elle would never bother her again.

Alice started to leave as well, only pausing long enough to tell Edward, "Jasper has something he wants to tell you."

"No, I don't," the empath protested.

"Okay then, it's something he isn't sure if he should tell you," Alice amended. "But I think you need to know." She continued on her way; the other two heard the front door open and close as she went outside.

"All right, what is it, Jasper?" Edward sighed. "Alice made me curious - which she fully intended to do, of course."

"Of course she did," Jasper said ruefully, "even though I told her it wasn't our business. The thing is, Edward, I wasn't around Elle very much, and she could be hard to read…but it did seem to me that she had real feelings for you."

"Impossible."

"Is it?"

"Yes! She manipulated me and used my feelings for her to spy on all of us! That isn't how you treat someone you care for, but it is fitting behavior for a sociopath, which is what she is. She isn't capable of truly feeling anything for another person."

"Wrong. She felt _something_ for you," Jasper insisted. "I don't know if it was love - her emotions were different to most people's, more unstable, maybe, so I couldn't be sure - but it was there. You did matter to her."

"So," Edward began uncertainly, "are you saying you think I should-?"

"I'm not telling you to do anything; that's your choice. Alice just thought you needed to know…if the only reason you don't want to try and get Elle back is that you thought she didn't care."

_Forks Hospital_

Carlisle's family did not visit him at work often, so he was more than a little surprised when Edward showed up in his office. He was also relieved. Losing a mate was the most traumatic thing that could happen in a vampire's life, so he was glad his son had decided to come talk to him rather than shutting himself away and trying to deal with whatever he was feeling on his own.

"Forgive the interruption, Carlisle; I need to talk with you."

"You know you're always welcome to discuss anything with me." It was an open invitation without being nosy - he didn't want to put Edward off by prodding him to say more than he was ready to.

"How extensive were her injuries?"

There was no question who he meant. "I only had a moment to examine her-"

"We both know you can tell a lot in a very short time. Please, Carlisle, I have to know how bad it was."

"Nonfatal, assuming she received decent medical care."

Edward sensed there was more that Carlisle wasn't saying, or even allowing himself to think about. "But? Just tell me, please."

"She suffered a severe spinal fracture," Carlisle said reluctantly, hoping the news wouldn't upset Edward more. "Even with the best care in the world, she'll never walk again. In fact, she'll likely spend the rest of her life paralyzed from the neck down."

"I see. Thank you."

"May I ask why you wanted to know?"

"Less than five hours ago I had convinced myself I never wanted to see her again, that I didn't even care if she lived or died, and then Jasper told me that when he was around her he had sensed that she did actually feel something for me…and that was all it took. One little hint that _maybe_ what we had wasn't just a game to her! He couldn't even say for certain that what she felt was love, but I was still ready to scour the entire country for her just in case there was any chance at all that-" He cut himself off, breathing heavily and pinching the bridge of his nose. "I feel like I'm losing my mind, Carlisle. What should I do?"

"I'm afraid I can't tell you that."

Edward's hand dropped from his face as he looked up with barely-controlled desperation in his amber eyes. "You must have some advice for me. _Please._ There's no one else I can ask, and I've never been so confused in my life."

"All I can say is that you should do what you think is right. Also…if you still love Elle - and it seems to me that you do - then you shouldn't let that go without fighting for it. Of course this is just my opinion. Whatever your choice, I will always be there for you."

"I know. And I know what I'm going to do now." At Carlisle's inquisitive look he continued, "Total paralysis is a miserable condition - I can't leave her like that."

Carlisle's eyes widened. "You're going to try to change her?"

"I am."

"Edward, what you're talking about will not be easy."

"I know how difficult it is; you've relived your memories of changing the others often enough that I have a very clear idea of how it will be. I can handle it." He sounded more confident than he actually was; resisting Elle's blood hadn't been a problem for him in the past, when it was safely contained inside her veins, but that might change once he broke the flimsy barrier of her skin and had the taste of it on his tongue. Still, he reasoned, if he did lose control and begin feeding on her, she would snap him out of it. Her electrical jolts were definitely painful enough. "After her change is complete I'll take responsibility for her, but I don't know if our relationship will be the same."

"It can't be, at least not right away - she'll be too wild as a newborn."

"That's not what I meant," Edward said with a slight sad smile. "Whatever she may have felt while pretending to be my girlfriend, it doesn't alter the fact of what she did. She had countless opportunities to tell me the truth and chose not to. I still care about her too much to leave her in a state I'm sure seems worse than death to her, but I doubt I'll ever be able to trust her again."

Carlisle nodded understandingly and wondered whether Edward fully comprehended what he was about to get himself into. Managing a newborn vampire was hard enough under normal circumstances; factor in Elle's ability and Edward's confused feelings toward her and it could be a disaster. _Perhaps I should go with him…_

"Unnecessary. I may need your help later, but first I have to find her, and then her change won't happen overnight - assuming she even accepts my offer. I'm fairly certain she will, but obviously I don't know her as well as I thought. There's no reason for you to be away from your work and the rest of the family for so long."

"Aren't you going to bring her back here?"

Edward briefly considered that option before dismissing it. "I'd rather not fight with Rosalie about it - they hate each other, you know. Besides, we're too close to Forks. Too many people in the woods." _She may not feel any remorse if she attacked someone, but I would._

"Well then, I suppose all that's left is for me to wish you luck. You're leaving now?"

"Before the others can try to change my mind, yes. I think Alice must be holding off on telling them, or Rose would already be on the phone screaming at me. I trust you'll do your best to keep Esme from getting upset over my leaving?"

"Of course. Just don't stay away any longer than you have to. And, Edward?"

The younger vampire paused in the act of opening Carlisle's office door. "Yes?"

"Be careful." A bunch of humans, even the dubiously gifted group Elle ran with, shouldn't pose any danger to a vampire, but Carlisle still had a hunch that his son was headed for trouble.

_Primatech facility - Hartsdale, NY_

When Arthur Petrelli came to see her the second time, Elle was ashamed to realize she was scared. The first time he showed up at her bedside it was just for a debriefing, albeit the most extensive one of her short career. He'd even used telepathy to make sure he got every single detail of her interaction with the Cullens, which had left Elle with a headache and a strong feeling of having been violated; that he was back couldn't mean anything good for her.

She watched warily as the powerful man approached, fully aware that he could do anything he wanted to her, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop him. He crossed the space between them at a slow, relaxed pace, lowered the railing on one side of her bed - which was indistinguishable from the beds found in a hospital; if Elle didn't know better she might think that was where she actually was, but the Company would never allow that - sat down, and took her hand.

Elle cringed with the desire to pull away, but only in her mind; her damaged body wouldn't obey her anymore. Her hand remained limp as his fingers curled around it.

"Good afternoon, Elle," he said pleasantly. "It's nice to see you again. I hope you've been resting well."

"That's all I've been doing. What do you want? You already know everything I found out about the Cullens, so you must be here to dispose of me." Elle didn't know exactly what happened to agents who outlived their usefulness, but the fact that killing people wasn't really against Company policy gave her a pretty good idea.

Arthur seemed taken aback by the suggestion, maybe even a little offended. "Dispose of you? You think I'd let a talent like yours go to waste?"

"So you're gonna take my power first?" Elle instinctively struggled to get away, though of course nothing happened; her voice shooting up a few octaves was the only indication of her alarm. Trapped inside her own broken body, her power was all she had left, even though her ability to use it had been drastically reduced by her paralysis. Still, she could at least release electricity through her skin; it wasn't much, but it got rid of those pesky nurses who kept wanting to sedate her all the time. If Arthur took that away she would be completely helpless. _But then he's going to kill me, so I guess I don't need to worry about the nurses anyway…_

Arthur dropped her hand and gripped her shoulders as if to hold her down, or as if he were about to shake her. "I don't want your power - I'm talking about _you_. You took on a vampire and survived-"

"Barely," Elle said bitterly.

"You don't know how few humans, even ones with our abilities, could do what you did; you don't know how special that makes you. How valuable."

Elle perked up a little. No one had ever called her valuable before. "You really think so?"

"I do," Arthur said sincerely. "I'll admit reviewing your memories concerned me - it seemed like you'd developed feelings for one of those monsters."

"Edward. He was the first person that actually wanted me around; I think everyone else just put up with me because they had to, even Daddy sometimes. He said he loved me."

"Until he found out you're one of us. He could have healed you, but instead he just let Bennet take you away from him. Pretty poor repayment after you helped him finish off James if you ask me."

Elle wanted to say that wasn't true, but her return to the Company was all a big blur. She thought Alice, Emmett, and Jasper had been there, and she definitely remembered seeing Carlisle. Surely the five vampires could have fought off Bennet and his team if they'd wanted to…

Arthur read the doubts that were forming in her mind as easily as if they were printed on her forehead. "Yes, they could have. They didn't because they can't understand how necessary our work is; all Edward sees is that you told him a few white lies, and he abandoned you. He doesn't care about you."

Elle was grateful she could still turn her head away; she didn't want Arthur to see her eyes tearing up. Edward had made her feel like the most important person in the world, and while she wasn't sure if she had _loved_ him, being with him made her happy. She would have been willing to do everything expected of a girlfriend for him, including staying away from other guys, if only because they were kind of boring compared to Edward.

Arthur grasped her chin and gently turned her head back toward himself. "He doesn't care about you…but we do. The Company is your family, Elle, and we take care of our own." He got up and opened the door of her room, and another man walked in. "This is Mr. Linderman, a good friend of myself and your father. He's here to fix you."

Linderman took Arthur's place on the edge of Elle's hospital bed and carefully took one of her hands in both of his, closing his eyes in concentration. Warmth spread through her body where he touched her, repairing her damaged spine, restoring her to the peak of health. Sitting up, Elle was delighted to find that she wasn't even sore from lying still for a week. "Thank you so much!" She threw her arms around Linderman's neck, and then she hugged Arthur too since he had brought Linderman there, and it'd been pretty nice of him not to kill her.

Arthur was unpleasantly reminded of how overly affectionate his younger son Peter had been as a child, but he reminded himself that unlike Peter, Elle could be useful to him, so he forced himself to grin and bear it. He even gave her a little pat on the back. "Just don't go falling for a vampire again, okay?"

Elle pulled back, her face perfectly expressionless except for a tiny, angry glimmer in her eyes. "Don't worry about it, Mr. Petrelli. From now on, you can count on me one hundred percent." _But if I ever see Edward Cullen again, I'll show him I'm not that easy to get rid of._

**Next chapter: Edward finds the facility Elle lives in, but she has a surprise waiting for him. It's not going to be a happy New Moon-style 'OMG I'm so happy to see you again' reunion, folks.**


	26. Perfidy

**This has nothing to do with the story but please keep reading: I recently received a truly horrifying letter from PETA about cats and dogs - the same animals we keep as ****pets**** - being slaughtered to provide fur for clothing. And I'm not talking about humane killing either; they're subjected to torture that would turn the stomach of anyone who cares at all about other living beings, including skinning them ****alive****, and they aren't all old animals that would soon die naturally anyway - this is happening to puppies and kittens. The fur harvested this way is then labeled as 'Asian jackal' or 'rabbit' so consumers are kept ignorant of what they're unwittingly participating in when they buy fur products. I know not everyone is able to contribute financially to organizations like PETA that fight this abominable cruelty so I'm not asking you to donate to them, but next time you're out shopping and you see something cute with fur on it, please think of the cat or dog that might have suffered and died horribly to make it and DON'T buy it. And if the store has a system for receiving customer complaints, please tell them you don't approve of them carrying such products. They will listen if they start losing business. This depraved practice has to be stopped, and the only way that's guaranteed to happen is if there's no longer a market for animal fur. Also, please spread the word to your friends and family - doing so might save a life.**

Chapter 26: Perfidy

Elle was put back on active duty the very next day, her bosses having decided she didn't need any time to recover; she was perfectly healthy thanks to Linderman. More importantly, they wanted to keep her too busy to think about Edward. They didn't have a new assignment for her, so she was kept busy supervising the prisoners, and once she was sent out to assist with a bag and tag mission.

She thoroughly enjoyed it - there was nothing like a good fight that allowed her to give free rein to her powers. They had been repressed for far too long while she was trying to fit in with those insipidly _normal_ people in Forks. She couldn't understand how the Cullens forced themselves to live like that. Not that she cared, of course. Just because the thought of her former boyfriend made her feel like zapping the nearest object, it didn't mean he was still important to her in any way. _Because he isn't. Not at all._

Unfortunately the nearest object at the moment happened to be her pillow; if she incinerated it she would have nothing to sleep on, so she settled for punching it into a more comfortable shape before lying down.

A short time later she awoke to a distant racket; some idiot had attempted to enter a secure area of the facility without the proper clearance. Luckily dealing with this kind of disturbance at this hour wasn't her job. _They better get that alarm shut off soon,_ Elle thought sleepily, _or I'll have to find the guy in charge of night security and give him a piece of my mind._ She was just about to drift off again when she heard her window opening.

She sat up, all thoughts of going back to sleep forgotten, and turned toward the window. There was no one there, but that did nothing to calm her racing heart. The window could not have come open on its own - it had _been_ opened by someone who had no business in her room, someone who was inside with her at this very moment. She could feel the intruder's presence. "Come out, come out, whoever you are," she called, pushing back her covers in case she was about to need to jump off the bed. Getting tangled up so the intruder could subdue her more easily wouldn't do. _Come here so I can show you you picked the wrong place to break into!_

"I'm right here, Elle."

The voice came from directly behind her. She spun around while at the same time shifting from her bottom onto her knees and almost bumped noses with Edward Cullen. The vampire was there, _in her room_, standing by the side of her bed farthest from the window. _I must be dreaming._

Though she couldn't know it, Edward was thinking the same thing. Since the day Carlisle told him about Elle's condition he had spent a lot of time during his search for her preparing himself for actually seeing her. He had expected her to be in bad shape, his brain constantly throwing out data about how long it took for physical deterioration to set in after a person lost the capacity for movement, the number and placement of the tubes required to feed and hydrate a quadriplegic, and take care of their other bodily functions. It had made him wish several times that he wasn't so well-versed in medicine, yet here she was, clearly not paralyzed and looking lovely as ever.

Then she tried to slap him, shattering the scene's dreamlike quality. She might appear ethereal with the moonlight turning her hair to pale gold and her gray eyes silver, but she was definitely the real Elle, not a figment of his imagination; he didn't believe himself capable of imagining anyone quite like her if he tried. He aborted her attempted slap by catching her wrist.

She jerked her arm back and hissed, "What the hell are you doing?"

"You aren't pleased to see me?"

"No!" she shouted. "You shouldn't be here!"

"This is exactly where I should be - it's where you are."

Elle sat back on her haunches, scowling. "If you wanted to be with me you're a little late."

"What are you talking about?"

She ignored his question. "How'd you even get here? I never told you where I live."

"I knew you lived in New York-"

"New York is a big state."

"-And I knew the name of your company. I looked up Primatech on the Internet; according to the website it's nothing more than a paper company - it would be very convincing if I didn't know better - but at least the list of their office locations is accurate. Also, your father is named as one of top executives in this office; I assumed you would be where he was."

"Haven't you heard that saying about what happens when you assume?" Elle asked, annoyed.

"That adage doesn't apply if your assumption is right," Edward countered smugly.

Elle sighed; she was tired, and not in the mood to argue with a vampire who was stubbornly, infernally convinced that he was always right. She put her head between her knees - she didn't think she could look at his too-perfect crooked smile for another minute without getting violent - pushed her fingers through her hair, and grumbled, "What do you want, Edward?"

"You, of course. I came to get you out of here, but we'd better get moving."

She lifted her head but made no move to stand up. Edward frowned; he was ready to carry her out, but after seeing that she wasn't paralyzed he'd thought he wouldn't have to. "You're crazy," she informed him. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Why not? Is there something stopping you from leaving?"

"Daddy would be mad if I did."

This was turning out to be harder than Edward had anticipated - while not expecting rescuing Elle from her company to be easy, he hadn't counted on resistance from her. _But if these people were able to turn her into their spy, of course they'd need some hold on her. I should have thought of that._ He quickly weighed his options and saw only two: he could try reasoning with Elle, or he could try to remove her against her will. Based on his knowledge of her powers and personality, the second option seemed unlikely to succeed. _Reasoning with her it is._ "Do you _want_ to stay here?"

"What I want doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. If you aren't happy here, you can leave-"

"And go where?" she interrupted. "I've lived here forever. This is my home."

Edward began to get fed up, more with himself than with her. He came to this place to repair the damage done to her because of him, not to get back together with her - so, now that he saw she was okay, why was he still there? Why couldn't he just walk away? "You know what? If you insist on being blindly loyal to a father who doesn't even care about you, that's fine with me. I don't know why I bothered tracking you down - you are so frustrating!"

"I don't know either if all you want is to insult me. You know, until you showed up I didn't realize how much I've enjoyed not having to put up with you every day!"

"Well you won't have to put up with me any longer," Edward snapped. "I'm going now. If you ever learn to think for yourself, you know where to find me. Goodbye, Elle."

"You're leaving?"

"I see no point in staying, so yes, I am."

She sat up a little straighter, a strange smile playing on her lips. "Too late."

"What-?"

Elle's bedroom door burst open, letting in half a dozen armed guards, Bob Bishop, Noah Bennet, and Eden McCain. Too late, Edward realized he should have paid more attention to the hurried footsteps he'd heard approaching, but he'd been too occupied with Elle. A deliberate distraction, or just an unlucky coincidence? He suspected it was the former, especially when her electricity hit him in the back. He'd felt her power before, but never this strongly; this was no accidental discharge or mild sting to show her irritation - it was a full-force attack. The pain would have rendered a human unconscious, but Edward didn't have the luxury of blacking out. He fell to the floor and stayed there until Eden ordered him to get up.

Once he was back on his feet he saw the security team uselessly pointing their guns at him, Bennet and Eden (who were unarmed) observing the scene, and Bob making a show of fussing over Elle - as if that made up for his usual negligence! Edward snarled angrily.

All eyes were instantly back on him. _**"Don't move,"**_ Eden ordered in her irresistibly compelling voice. Edward froze.

"Get that monster away from my daughter," Bob demanded. "I think he's put her through enough already."

Eden told Edward to walk with her, and he did, but before exiting the room he took one last look at Elle. Her eyes narrowed as she read the betrayal and hurt in his, like he didn't think he deserved this. Like he hadn't brought it on himself by abandoning her to a lifetime of staring at the ceiling of a room in the facility's medical treatment area, then being stupid enough to show his face around her again. "What're they gonna do with him?"

"He'll be our guest here for a while," Bob told her. "We don't know much about his kind beyond the fact of their existence, so we'll be studying him."

"The scientists won't need him twenty-four-seven though, will they Daddy? I can play with him, right?"

Bob sighed. "Vampires don't make good pets, Elle."

"I bet I can teach Edward to be one."

"You do realize that we don't want him damaged," Bennet put in.

"I won't damage him," Elle scoffed. The smile suddenly slid off her face, replaced by an almost feral look. "Much."

"We'll see." Bob patted her on the head. "Now, why don't you go back to bed? Come on, Noah, I think Elle's had enough excitement for one evening."

###

As soon as they were away from Elle Noah exploded, "What the hell were you thinking, Bishop? Using your daughter as vampire bait?"

"That was Arthur's idea, not mine. He and Angela were the ones who thought Cullen might try to contact her again. I didn't much like it, but I couldn't exactly argue with the Petrellis."

"He did more than try to contact her - he was in her _room_! And he was smart enough to set off an alarm somewhere else to cause a distraction before making his move. It took us longer than it should have to get to her; anything could have happened in that time."

"It didn't, though."

Noah still looked unhappy. "Are you sure about that? There's so much we don't understand about vampires - what if he infected her somehow? What will we do then?"

"My daughter is not going to become a vampire," Bob said sharply. That would be a disaster. The combination of her powers and mental instability already made Elle dangerous; add in the enhanced strength and speed and the predatory instincts of a vampire and she would be unmanageable. "Still…I'll have her examined tomorrow. Just to be safe." He stopped walking and hit the call button for an elevator. "Well, I'm getting out of here. Coming, Noah?"

"No, I still have work to finish here so I can get a flight home tomorrow." For just a moment after Bob left, Noah considered doubling back to Elle's room and warning her that she was under some suspicion because of her intimate relationship with Edward, but soon decided against it. He had always made a point of not interfering in Company business, not doing anything that could draw attention to him - and by extension, his family. He especially didn't want them noticing Claire.

Besides, he had never gone out of his way for Elle before, even when she was experimented on as a child…and with Thompson dead, no one except Elle herself knew the full details of her time with the Cullens. Noah wasn't even sure Thompson had known everything, since he had complained about Elle failing to report to him. Simple teenage rebellion…or did she have something to hide? Noah agreed wholeheartedly with Bob that Elle couldn't be allowed to turn; if she had been infected with vampirism, she would have to be put down.

Noah began walking faster toward his office. If the worst-case scenario regarding Elle was realized, he'd rather not stick around to watch.

**Next chapter: Edward's trapped in the Company with an angry Elle. Let the games begin. **


	27. Visitation

**DarkLove12489: Thanks for your review. I would have sent a proper, more prompt reply but I couldn't PM you.**

**Warning: chapter includes Elleward getting rough with each other.**

Chapter 27: Visitation

"_**Get in there. Don't try to leave."**_ Eden wondered why she had to order the new prisoner to stay in his cell. Only the ones with really scary powers, like Stephen Canfield and Flint Gordon, stood any chance of escaping, and Level Five had kept them contained for years. Edward Cullen was just a telepath. Then again, she reflected as she locked his cell door, he _had_ breached a high-security part of the facility. If he got in, it might not be such a stretch to assume he could also get out…

She was standing at the cell's observation window, looking in at him, and suddenly he was standing on the other side, looking back at her. The glass was bulletproof but did nothing to diffuse the intensity of his stare; unused to anyone else's powers of persuasion working on her, Eden was taken aback, pinned like a butterfly in a display case by the vampire's captivating golden eyes.

"Tell Elle to come see me," he ordered in a seductively persuasive voice. "We have a lot to discuss." Then he turned away, ignoring her so thoroughly that a hole might have opened up in the floor and swallowed her without him noticing.

Eden shivered and hurried to the stairs leading off Level Five, which she didn't intend to enter alone again - or at all unless forced - as long as he was there. _I'll pass the message on to Elle, all right; I'll tell her to stay away from him! Something's off about that guy._ Elle might be a sadistic sociopath, but Edward Cullen was just plain creepy.

###

Seventeen hours later, just when Edward had made up his mind that Elle was never going to show up - she obviously didn't want to see him even though there were only a few floors separating them; he might as well be on the moon for all she cared, and why had he taken Jasper's word as proof that she actually had feelings for him? He should have known the empath's talent wasn't reliable when it came to someone with Antisocial Personality Disorder - she came.

"What the hell did you do?" She was almost shouting as she stormed into his cell and kicked the door shut with a reverberating _clang_. "I just spent a day getting poked and prodded like a guinea pig by every damn doctor in the place because they were afraid you'd infected me! I swear, if you've turned me into some kind of night-crawler…"

Edward sensed the atmosphere becoming charged and knew she was about to bleed off her anger by releasing her power, probably with him as her target. "Elle, stop. Just calm down. I promise I have not changed you in any way."

She simmered down somewhat, but her suspicious glare remained. "They tested my DNA and said it didn't look any different, but-"

"Of course not - because _I never bit you_. That is the only way for a human to become 'infected'."

Elle knew perfectly well that she had never been bitten by a vampire; she would have noticed bite marks on her own body, and the doctors had also reported that her blood count was normal. It was the second part she wasn't sure about. "You've never told me exactly how someone becomes a vampire."

"I didn't want to give you ideas."

"Please. From what I've seen vampires either repeat high school forever or wander around hunting people and have gross red eyes like James. I don't like those choices."

Edward was relieved to hear that; although changing her was the only way he could have healed her, the idea of risking Elle's soul to repair her broken body hadn't sat well with him. "Then there's no harm in telling you how the conversion works. We produce venom that creates pain, to incapacitate our prey so we can feed more easily."

"You have venom?" she asked doubtfully. "Where?"

"It's produced in our mouths, like a snake's. We inject it into our prey's bloodstream by biting them, then either drink from them or leave the venom to spread. It takes days and is excruciating for the victim, but unless their heart stops before the venom can spread throughout their body, they become one of us."

"How do I know you aren't just making this up?"

"I suppose you can't. You just have to trust me."

_Trust him? Not likely. Look where that got me last time._ Still, she thought she'd better pass this information to the scientists, in case he was telling the truth. Before leaving, she zapped him from across the cell. "Something to remember me by."

"Does that mean you won't be coming back?" He hoped not. Eden's command prevented him breaking out however badly he wanted to; vampires weren't built to live in confinement, and being stuck here was more than a little insulting when this cell shouldn't be able to hold him, but being near Elle made the situation almost tolerable.

Already gripping the door handle, she paused to glance quickly, almost involuntarily over her shoulder. Common sense told her she shouldn't want to be anywhere near him, and yet… "No. I think we'll see a lot of each other."

###

Unlike most American teenagers, Elle did not own a cell phone. Although she was allowed to carry one while working outside the facility, it was taken away from her when she came home. This time Arthur had let her keep the phone she had used in Forks, which seemed pointless to her - she had no friends to call, and nobody ever called her - until that night.

She almost fell off her bed in shock when her phone rang, but she answered out of curiosity.

"Good, this number still works. This is Alice Cullen."

Elle had figured as much; the voice was too euphonic to belong to a human, and as far as she knew Esme and Rosalie didn't have her number. She didn't remember giving it to Alice either, but she wouldn't put it past the nosy precog to get it by other means. "What do you want?"

"I want my brother back."

"That isn't up to me. You don't leave until they decide to let you go. Coming here was his bright idea anyway."

"Yes, and he did it for you! You have a funny way of showing gratitude."

"What are you talking about? From where I'm sitting he didn't do anything I should be grateful for."

"Ask him; he's the one you have issues to sort out with, not me."

"Who says I have issues?" Elle asked indignantly.

"Considering that you helped lock up the guy who loves you - _after_ you spent months lying about why you were with him in the first place - I would say it's obvious," Alice snapped.

"And I'd say you're full of it. I was just doing my job."

"Then you need a new j-"

Elle angrily cut her off. "I _can't_ get a new job, okay? I've worked here my entire life! What else am I supposed to do!"

"Fine." Alice's voice had become quieter, and she sounded sad. "Maybe I was wrong about you; maybe the person they've turned you into doesn't bother you. But I know you cared about Edward at least a little, and you really hurt him."

"Shut up. I haven't done anything too bad to him."

"I didn't mean you hurt him in the physical sense, and you had better see that you don't, or I will kill you - unless the others beat me to it. They'd get pretty angry if I shared what I've seen you doing since Edward broke into that lab you live in, especially Rosalie. She strongly dislikes you already, you know."

"Rosalie doesn't scare me; neither do you. Now if you'll excuse me, I have other things I'd rather do than trade threats - I'm more of a take-action type. Later." She hung up and turned the phone off. It figured that the first time someone called her it wouldn't be pleasant. _I hate my life. I think I hate Alice too - calling me just to make sure I'm not hurting her precious Edward. Nobody worries about me like that._

Elle lay on her back, her breath coming fast and shallow as she got angry. There was no way she'd be able to sleep now, so she decided to vent on her new favorite target. It was past her curfew but she thought she could slip down to Edward's cell unnoticed. She was wrong.

"Elle?"

She stopped with an irritated sigh. "What, Eden?"

"Where are you going?"

"None of your business."

"You're going to see Edward Cullen, aren't you?"

"So what if I am?"

Eden looked troubled. "I wish you wouldn't; he gives me the creeps, Elle. Even the scientists that are meant to be studying him are afraid to go near him! They've been letting you handle him because you have some connection, but I'm not convinced it's safe for you."

"Wow, I never knew you cared," Elle said sarcastically. "Gonna make me stay away from him?"

"No, it's not my problem if you're suicidal. I just thought you should know your boyfriend scares the hell out of every sane person in the building."

Elle's temper flared again. "Then it's too bad I'm crazy, isn't it? Don't bother denying it - I know that's how everyone thinks of me." Eden said nothing, silently confirming her accusation. "That's what I thought." She walked away, leaving Eden behind. If Eden didn't care enough to stop her, she probably wouldn't report her either.

###

Edward lay on the narrow cot the Company had furnished his cell with, arms crossed under his head, eyes closed. To the casual observer he appeared to be sleeping, but Elle knew better. "I know you don't sleep. Get up." She sent an electrical bolt at him.

He jumped out of the way, reappearing on the other side of the cell. "Isn't it late for you to be up?"

"I got a call from your nosy sister. She pissed me off, and so did Eden."

She lashed out once more, and this time he didn't move. "So you're here to take it out on me." He flinched as she electrocuted him a third time - she felt it as she placed her hands on his chest and discharged enough electricity that she could have restarted his heart if that were at all possible - but he didn't scream. She had to admit that was impressive. When she finally ran out of juice and paused to recharge, he asked, "What have I done to make you hate me so much, Elle?"

Pain showed clearly in his eyes, though she couldn't tell whether it was caused by the shocks she'd administered or the thought of her hating him. Whichever, it elicited no sympathy. "You left me. After I broke my back blowing up James, you just _left_ me there! Mr. Petrelli said you could've fixed me, but you didn't bother once Bennet told you what kind of work I do. Did you hate _me_ that much?"

"First I'd like to point out that it's unfair to blame me for 'just leaving you'. Bennet brought your friend Eden with him; she forced us not to interfere with their taking you." He paused, listening to her thoughts as she processed this information. "Ah, so you weren't aware Eden was there. Well, you were badly hurt - I'm not surprised you failed to notice her. Afterward, it's obvious you were told only what your boss wanted you to know. He wouldn't have wanted your loyalties divided; I imagine it suited his purposes to make you think I willingly abandoned you."

"You're avoiding the main question," Elle snapped. "How'd you react when you found out about my real job?"

"I won't deny that I was extremely angry," Edward said slowly. "Our entire relationship was a lie. Then, when Carlisle told me the damage to your spine had paralyzed you, I knew I couldn't leave you like that; in spite of everything, I couldn't bear the thought of you suffering. I loved you too much."

She looked away. "You weren't meant to love me. I'm…sorry."

"Is that why you sent me that message?"

"What message?"

"The text message you sent me in Seattle, presumably on your way to the parking garage where you met James. 'I had to do it. Sorry.'"

"Oh, that. No, I just thought you'd be put out that I sneaked off."

"Well, of course I was. I never understood what possessed you to run off to a rendezvous with a vampire who wanted to kill you."

"He kidnapped my partner, Thompson, and made him tell me to meet him alone. I didn't know James was behind it till I got there, but I still didn't like having to run out on you, so that's what the message was about. Sorry if you thought it meant something else."

Edward ignored the apology; he was more interested in what she said just prior to it. "Partner? What do you mean, your partner?"

"Company agents work in pairs - someone like me with someone normal. They call it the 'one of us, one of them' system."

"So it's a business relationship."

"Most of the time, although partners can get pretty close if they're together long enough."

"Were you and Thompson close?"

"I couldn't stand the jerk. Hey, wait a minute… Are you jealous?"

"Don't be ridiculous." He stalked off as far as the cell would allow.

Elle followed him. "You are! Admit it, you can't stand the idea that I might have liked Thompson." Neither could she - in fact she found it revolting - but she was unable to stop herself from teasing him with it. She came up behind him where he stood with his back toward her and reached out to touch him…

His hand closed around her wrist; she was pulled around in a half circle so fast that her feet barely skimmed the floor. When he set her down she was in front of him, facing him with her back against the wall. One of his hands was pressed to the wall too, bracing him; the other went around her neck. For a second she thought he might choke her, but he only gripped her hair at the base of her skull and bent her head backward so that she stared up into his face.

_Maybe I finally pushed him too far, _she thought dizzily. _Maybe the choking comes later. _

"You're right," he said silkily, "I don't like the idea. I don't like the idea of you having feelings for your partner or anyone else. You are _my_ mate, remember?" Her betrayal ceased to matter at that matter; the only thing that did matter was that she belonged to him, and apparently she needed to be reminded of that fact. He claimed her mouth in a fierce, possessive kiss.

Elle enjoyed it at first…but it went on too long. Edward seemed to have forgotten that she needed to breathe - he was actually sucking the breath from her lungs with his kiss and his crushing embrace, so maybe he hadn't forgotten anything. This could be some sort of punishment. Maybe she deserved it, and she was too curious about this new experience to put a stop to it just yet.

Then, just as she started to black out, he pulled back, saying something her oxygen-deprived brain couldn't process. She was aware of him catching her when her legs buckled and sitting her on the cot, holding her as she gulped in air. "I didn't…know you could…knock someone out by kissing them. What…what was that for?"

Edward pinched the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "It's a vampire's nature to be possessive of their mate…also, I was angry with you. I let it go too far, and for that I'm sorry."

"So you still think of me as your mate? You still…want me?" This was not at all what she expected when Alice told her to work out her issues with Edward.

"Yes. I don't know how I'll ever trust you again, but it seems nothing you do will ever stop me wanting you."

"So where does that leave us?"

This time he had no answer for her.

**Next up: Elle tells the story of her first assignment, and another piece of our characters' personal history is uncovered. I can't take full credit for the second revelation by the way; the idea was originally put to me by a reader of Resurgence. I think it was Raiko Toho, but it's been a while so I'm not 100% sure.**


	28. Memories

Chapter 28: Memories

Elle left soon after that, saying she would get in trouble if she were caught in Edward's cell after hours. He let her go without protest; some time alone might be beneficial - it would allow him to think, which he seemed to have trouble doing with her around. It would also eliminate the possibility of her provoking him into another show of dominance like the one that could so easily have turned deadly for her.

Several hours passed before he saw her again, and her brusque demeanor told him it wasn't a social visit. "I'm supposed to get your DNA for the lab rats to study," she announced, holding out a cotton swab of the type commonly used to collect skin cell samples. "You know the drill, we can do this the easy way or the hard way."

Edward opted for the easy way; while he loathed the idea of being studied like some exotic new animal, Elle's 'hard way' would likely end with one of them getting hurt. Willingly assisting humans in learning about vampires might land him in hot water if the Volturi ever found out, but, he reasoned, these humans already knew his kind existed, so he wasn't technically exposing them. If the vampire rulers disagreed, he could argue that the Company could have forced his cooperation anyway; that they'd been able to trap him was proof enough. "All right, you can have whatever you need - provided I get something in return."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to come back when you have free time and explain how you ended up in this line of work."

"You want my life story?"

"Yes, the real one this time. It goes without saying that I would prefer you not lie to me again."

_Well, damn._ "Honesty isn't really something I'm good at."

He frowned. "You are capable of telling the truth, aren't you?"

"Maybe. Okay, I'll tell you how I became an agent, just don't blame me if you don't like what you hear."

###

True to her word, Elle returned late that afternoon. "So where do you want me to start?"

"At the beginning, naturally. How did you come to be here?"

"Didn't Carlisle explain that part of human biology to you?"

Edward rolled his eyes. "You know that isn't what I meant."

"Daddy brought me here because I was too dangerous to live around normal people; I'd already set my grandmother's house on fire and I guess he was afraid I might kill someone. I spent my ninth birthday in a glass room with an IV of lithium in my arm, and I've lived here ever since."

"Doing what?"

"I mostly help take other dangerous people off the streets. Sometimes I do a little investigating when we aren't sure what we're dealing with."

The second part of her answer was met with obvious displeasure. "How often? How many others have you 'investigated' before me?"

She moved away a bit just in case those instincts got the better of him again; she didn't want to deal with a repeat of last night's reminder of whose mate she was supposed to be, especially since it had involved her nearly suffocating. _So much for erotic asphyxiation. _"Just one, so shelve the territorial instincts."

He waited for her to elaborate, but she seemed to think she'd said enough on the subject. "Tell me about it?" he prodded.

"Do I have to?"

"No, but I don't understand your reluctance…unless you still have things to hide."

"Of course I'm reluctant to talk about it - it was only the most epic failure of my life!"

"It can't have been that bad." It was a statement calculated to draw out more details - Elle would disagree and then, ideally, would tell her story to prove him wrong - and it worked like a charm.

Elle stiffened, her expression turning cold. _Who does he think he is, brushing off the scariest night of my life like it was nothing? Not that bad? The hell it wasn't!_ She began pacing, spitting her words at him like a hail of bullets. "They sent me to another stupid little town like Forks, except this one was in Georgia, to check out a guy who, according to their intel, could control other people's life force. His name was Jeremy Greer. I made friends with him and found out that his power worked on any living thing, not just humans. He mostly used it to heal any hurt animals that he found, and his house also had the greenest lawn in the neighborhood. My partner on that mission, Noah Bennet, was interested enough that he wanted to bring Jeremy in for testing. I was supposed to lure him out of the house so we could capture him without having to deal with his parents…and that's when it all went wrong.

"Jeremy's parents thought I was a bad influence and didn't want him going off with me; they fought over it and when Jeremy lost his temper with them, a new side of his power came out. Controlling life force works both ways - you can use it to heal, or kill. He touched them and…they died." She paused as the memory played out in her mind's eye. It was the only time she could remember fearing one of her own kind, and what had followed was even worse. "Jeremy freaked out and called 911. I tried to talk him out of it but I was scared too - I'd never seen anyone die before. An ambulance came, but so did the police, and they decided Jeremy must have killed his parents since he had a reputation for being a weird kid. Before I knew what was happening their guns were pointed at him, and when I tried to help one of the cops almost shot me too, so I killed him; I think I've mentioned it before."

Edward remembered that day in the meadow when she had revealed that she too had taken a life, describing the sound and smell of his burnt skin in lurid detail - this must have been the incident she was referring to. "You did."

She nodded and continued her story. "Then Bennet showed up - he thought I was taking too long to get Jeremy to him and came to see what the hold-up was. He got me out…but we couldn't save Jeremy. They murdered him. And I came back here, where everybody knew I let a bunch of small-town cops get the better of me. Daddy was madder than I'd ever seen him; he said training me had been a waste of time."

"I'm very sorry, Elle." Edward's arms encircled her waist, halting her furious pacing.

She stood unresponsively where he had stopped her. "Aren't you going to ask if anything happened between me and Jeremy?"

"That would be insensitive." And unnecessary, since a dead boy couldn't compete with him for her affections. "I'm just happy you were able to escape unharmed."

"Thank you, Edward." She leaned into him and slowly raised her arms to hug him back. "And for the record, nothing did happen with Jeremy. He was a nice guy and I liked him okay, but I never dated him. Only you."

###

_Ten minutes till eight? Damn, how am I supposed to make curfew now? _ Elle's curfew wasn't strictly enforced except by Bob - she was after all an agent, not a prisoner - but it was common knowledge in the facility that she was supposed to be in her room by eight o'clock, with the lights out no later than eight-thirty. There were a few people who would give her grief for breaking the rules, so she tried to be quiet as she made her way up from Level Five.

She didn't meet anyone else until she reached the floor where her room was located - most of the staff would have gone home by now, with the exceptions of night security and a couple other agents who lived there like she did - but then her luck ran out. The hallway leading to her room was blocked by Arthur and Angela Petrelli. Elle shrank back behind the door that closed off the staircases; it wouldn't be wise to let the most powerful couple in the Company know that she had walked in on them arguing. No, the smart thing would be to wait for them to move on, and in the meantime try not to eavesdrop, although only a deaf person could've avoided overhearing them. Naturally she was curious about what could have pushed the normally reserved Petrellis into a shouting match in the middle of a Company building, but they were the last people whose business she wanted to get mixed up in.

_Please just don't let them catch me, and I'll never stick my nose into things that don't concern me again!_ Then Angela said something about 'that vampire', and Elle's resolve crumbled. They had to be talking about Edward.

"…Too dangerous to keep him here! You should put him down now."

"How many times do I have to tell you I won't do that until I've finished studying him? We'll never get another opportunity like this, Angela."

"Opportunity? It's a risk, Arthur, one you're foolish to take."

"I'm not risking anything. I have him contained."

Angela scoffed loudly at that. "You think a cell and the power of persuasion can hold a vampire forever? Have you forgotten the destruction they caused at Coyote Sands? They killed my sister!"

"I remember." Arthur sighed. "I'm sorry Angela, I should have realized keeping one here would upset you. I'll get rid of him soon."

"When you do I'd suggest arranging for the girl to be somewhere else; she could make trouble."

"She's too afraid of losing her power to go against me. I'll have her do it since we already know she's capable."

Elle's blood ran cold. Arthur was right about her being scared of him…scared enough to kill her boyfriend? But if he ordered her to do it, how could she refuse him? No one said no to Arthur Petrelli. Angela seemed to think his solution was perfect; she stopped yelling at him and the couple left. The coast was clear now, but Elle had no intention of going to her room. She needed to find a way out of this mess - one that wouldn't get her or Edward killed - and the answer wasn't in there.

Angela was pushing to have Edward 'put down' because of something that had happened at Coyote Sands, wherever that was; understanding those mysterious past events might be the key to getting her to back off. Elle had heard the name before from James, who'd made it sound like a government project aimed at studying evolved humans. _The Company should have a record of something like that, but if it's some big secret from the sixties there's probably nothing digital, maybe even nothing in the main archives. If I want to look up Coyote Sands, my best bet is probably the attic._

###

Primatech's attic was a lot like any other attic: dusty and filled with all the old junk nobody wanted lying around anywhere else. Elle just hoped there weren't spiders and rats up there too. _I don't even know what I'm looking for,_ she thought as she played her flashlight's beam over the clutter. _This must be the dumbest idea I've ever- Hey, that looks promising. _

The light had landed on an ancient, sagging filing cabinet against the far wall. Its faux wood grain-patterned vinyl had lost its shiny veneer, but the cards detailing what files were in which drawer were still in place. They were alphabetized, naturally, so Elle opened the drawer that held the C files and rifled through its contents, quickly finding what she was searching for. "Yes!" She pulled out the thick file on Coyote Sands, opened it, and began reading.

The first page was a cover letter of sorts stating that while the Company's founders had decided to keep the events at Coyote Sands a secret from the next generation, all records of the place weren't to be completely expunged because the day might come when someone else needed to know or they themselves needed a reminder of the past. It also named Coyote Sands as the place where Charles Deveaux, Daniel Linderman, Bob Bishop, and Angela Petrelli - then Angela Brandon - had met.

Elle was so stunned she nearly dropped her flashlight. After a moment her shock subsided, replaced by annoyance that this had been kept from her; apparently her father was even more distant than she'd thought. Then again, if James had rampaged through the camp while hunting Alice, the resulting bloodbath was likely so horrific that Bob could never bring himself to talk about it. _Guess I should just be glad James didn't get him._

Then she reminded herself that she was there to learn about Angela's past, not her father's. She flipped through a stack of basic medical information forms each 'patient' had filled out upon entering the program, looking for girls with the last name Brandon. There were only two: Angela and her sister, also a precog…whose name was Alice. It was too big a coincidence, but there was no way…

Heart pounding, Elle studied the photo paper-clipped to Alice Brandon's patient information form. "Oh my God…"

###

The sound of Elle's hurried footsteps reached Edward moments before she burst into his cell, breathing hard from having almost run down several flights of stairs so as not to risk meeting anyone in the elevators, eyes wide with excitement, or fear…or something along those lines. Her thoughts were such a chaotic jumble that he wasn't able to read much about what was going on besides the fact that something important had happened since she'd left, something she couldn't wait until morning to tell him. "What is it?" He hoped she hadn't gotten in trouble for spending time with him.

She shoved an old photograph under his nose. "Who does this look like?"

"It looks like Alice," he said slowly, frowning thoughtfully at the picture, "but this girl is human. Where did you get this?"

"When I met James at the Seattle facility, he told me he hunted Alice before she was changed. He tracked her to a place called Coyote Sands, and then tonight I overheard Mr. and Mrs. Petrelli talking about the same place, so I looked it up. It wasn't easy - the only record of it was hidden pretty well - but I found this list of all the people there, including Alice. Her name was Alice Brandon back then, and she wasn't the only Brandon in Coyote Sands."

"She had family there?" This news would mean a lot to Alice, who had always wondered where she came from.

"Yeah… If I'm right, Alice is Mrs. Petrelli's sister."

**So who saw that coming? Hopefully no one since it was supposed to be a surprise, but if you did congrats. As for Elle's first mission, it was originally going to be Sylar until I decided to bring him in later instead, so I ended up drawing from other canon events to explain why she was in the doghouse in the story's beginning. **

**Next up: Elle tries to help Edward get out of Primatech.**


	29. Asunder

**Because it's been so long since I updated, I stayed up late to finish this chapter…even though I have the first class of a brand new semester early next afternoon. Eek! Wish me luck, guys. **

Chapter 29: Asunder

"You have to tell her," Edward said at once.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Alice's origins have been a mystery as long as she can remember, and you've just solved it. She should know."

"Mrs. Petrelli isn't someone most people would be thrilled to have for a sister, and I doubt she'd take being related to a vampire well; all this time she's thought Alice was dead, and because of James she blames vampires for her losing her sister. She really hates them…you," Elle corrected herself. Her eyes widened as she remembered what had prompted her to dig into Angela's past in the first place. "She wants to kill you! Her husband wants to make me do it."

Edward took the news with amazing calmness. "Well, I'm sure you'll do what you have to."

"I don't want to - you know that, right? - it's just that…"

"You're afraid Arthur Petrelli will force you, and you're afraid of _him_." Elle gave a reluctant nod. "I don't want you endangering yourself over me. Your life is more important to me than my own."

At first Elle merely looked stunned; then her face slowly shifted into a defiant expression. "No. Screw the Petrellis - I won't hurt you any more than I already have, no matter what they do to me. I-" _I think I love you._ "I care about you too much to do that."

"Then I suppose I'll have to find a way out of here."

"Do you think you can?"

"Give me time. For now I want you to go to your room, get some rest, and stay out of trouble. Do _not_ confront Angela Petrelli or her husband about what you discovered tonight. Can you do that for me?"

"Hey, I always stay out of trouble." Edward just looked skeptically at her. "And when I do get into trouble it's hardly ever my fault." The skeptical look only intensified. "Fine, I won't do anything. Happy?"

"Ecstatic," Edward said dryly. "Tomorrow, at a time when your being down here won't attract suspicion, I need you to bring me your cell phone."

"Okay. See you tomorrow." She walked out, leaving him alone to think.

Escape from the facility was impossible; the evolved humans' powers - some of them a lot more formidable than his telepathy - were just as strong as a vampire's, and if one or more of the Company's agents had the gift of increased strength they might be able to outmatch him in a physical fight as well. He would have to dissuade Alice's long-lost sister and her husband from killing him, because he had no intention of dying now that Elle finally 'thought' she loved him. He didn't know how she had reached that conclusion or how long it would take for her to admit it out loud or even think it deliberately rather than by accident in a rare unguarded moment, but it was still the best thing that had happened to him all week.

###

Elle delivered her phone at eleven o'clock the following morning as requested, then stepped out so he could use it in private.

"Well?" she asked when he tapped on the observation window to let her know she could come back in. "Did you just order a hit on my boss?"

Edward rolled his eyes, which were darkening rapidly. He hadn't hunted since before Elle left Forks; first he was too busy fending off James, then the revelation of her true identity had taken away his appetite. "I don't have assassins on speed dial, Elle."

"So who'd you call?"

_Petrelli mansion - 13 hours later_

Angela woke in a cold sweat, having just relived in a nightmare her first glimpse of a vampire - his pale, perfect features and predatory grace, but mostly his chilling red eyes. She'd seen him in the Coyote Sands cabin she shared with her sister, sniffing Alice's pillow and the socks she had left on her bed that morning…and he had seen her. Riveted by those crimson eyes, Angela stood there helplessly, heart racing, waiting for him to kill her. He hadn't, though; he wasn't interested in her. He simply told her she was lucky not to smell as delectable as her sister and walked right past her. Their arms brushed, and his skin was so cold it burned her.

Angela never saw Alice again after that night. She had had a dream of Alice screaming in pain as another beautiful white-skinned man…monster…bit her throat and licked the blood from her wounds, and then Alice vanished from Angela's dreams as well. That was when Angela had realized the impossible truth: she had encountered a real-life vampire. Vampires were real, and they had taken her beloved big sister.

Coming back to the present, Angela realized her nightmare wasn't the only source of the cold feeling raising goose bumps on her skin; one of the bedroom windows was open. She was sure it had been closed when she fell asleep. She slid out of bed, careful not to disturb Arthur, and closed it. Then she noticed that the bedroom door was also open.

Her blood ran cold; had someone broken in? Doors and windows didn't open themselves. But if there was an intruder, they didn't seem to mean the Petrellis any harm - after all, if they'd come in through the window they had walked past Arthur and Angela while they were fast asleep, leaving them unharmed. Angela walked slowly out of the bedroom and ventured down a hallway, searching for any sign of someone who didn't belong.

Suddenly, an icy hand pulled her into a guestroom at the other end of the hall. Another covered her mouth before she could scream. "Shh, Angela, there's no need for that." The voice was feminine, musical…and somewhat familiar. But the cold, hard skin clearly belonged to a vampire.

"Who are you?" she demanded, trying not to whimper.

The hands released her. "Turn around."

She obeyed, terrified of what she would see…and found herself face to face with someone who looked eerily like the sister who had been haunting her dreams and nearly all her waking hours since Edward Cullen's arrival, yet at the same time totally different. Alice looked almost exactly the same as she had all those years ago - even the short haircut she'd gotten to annoy their mother hadn't changed - but her pixie-like features were slightly more angular, her skin paler, her eyes a deep ocher - the same as Edward's had been when Angela had gone to have a look at him on the first day of his captivity.

"Hello, little sister. It's been a long time."

This time Angela did whimper, unable to stop herself. She'd had it wrong all these years - the vampires hadn't killed Alice at all. They had _changed_ her. Made her like them. "Oh God, no."

Alice studied the human in front of her, wondering at the lack of emotion she felt. Her sister… But she had no memories of growing up with her. Edward, Rosalie, and Emmett felt much more like her family than this woman who was now staring at her in abject horror. "You don't need to be afraid," she tried to assure Angela. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"You- You're-"

"Really here? Alive? A vampire? Yes."

"This is impossible," Angela whispered. "I saw them kill you."

"If you were close enough to see anything, how did you escape?"

"I wasn't there; I saw it in a vision."

That was interesting; apparently precognition ran in the family.

Angela collected herself. If her vampire sister was here to kill her there was nothing she could do about it. Falling apart would serve no purpose except that she would die an undignified mess, which she refused to do. "Why are you here? Why come back after all this time?"

"I can't remember anything from before I was changed; I don't know why. Maybe the trauma caused me to forget. This morning Edward called and told me his girlfriend had uncovered information about my past - records from a place called Coyote Sands? I came to meet my human family."

"Edward?"

Alice nodded. "My brother."

"He isn't your brother, Alice."

"Yes he is," she said sharply. "The Cullens showed me how to live with what I am without becoming a monster - they're my family now."

Angela blanched. Alice wasn't the sister she used to know anymore, but hearing that she had been replaced still stung.

Seeing her reaction, Alice softened. "It's not your fault; you didn't do anything to make me stop thinking of you as my sister. I wish I could remember you, but I can't. If you want, I suppose we could try…to get to know each other again." She spoke with little enthusiasm - judging by Angela's initial reaction to her, the odds of them reestablishing their sisterly bond seemed slim. Angela pursed her lips, not sure if she was ready to accept a vampire as her sister either. "But whatever happens with us, I need you to let Edward go. He's not a danger to anybody, I promise."

Angela was hesitant. "He's a vampire…"

"So am I!" Alice snapped. "He may be a vampire, but he isn't evil. He helped Elle kill the tracker who hunted me in Coyote Sands."

Angela cringed as his face flashed across her mind. "He's the vampire the Bishop girl killed?"

"Long blond ponytail, wore his shirt unbuttoned, red eyes?"

"Yes, that's him."

Alice nodded. "His name was James, and yes, he's dead." Angela's relief was palpable. "So if you've imprisoned Edward out of some sense of revenge, you couldn't be more misguided. I'm asking you to let him go as a favor to me, since we're related, but I can be more forceful if that's what it takes. So can the others. Please Angela, I'd rather not fight with you."

Angela swallowed hard. "Very well, I'll have him released tomorrow. You're the reason I've wanted so badly to find a way to kill vampires - because they took you from me. If this is what you want I…I'll see that it happens."

"Thank you." Alice turned to go.

Angela's hand jerked as if she wanted to reach out for her but stopped herself. "Will I see you again?"

Alice flashed her a smile filled with gleaming teeth. "You know where to find me. I'm going home to Forks, but I'll be back."

###

Eden let Edward out of his cell first thing the next morning. Angela even arranged for a Primatech car to take him to the airport, where Alice was waiting. She had already booked their flight to Seattle. There was only one problem: he was leaving without Elle. Alice had been able to get him released from Primatech's custody, but they weren't letting go of _her_ any time soon.

"It really sucks that you're not coming with us," Alice said sadly. "Maybe if I talked to Angela again-"

"No. My life is here. What would I do in Forks anyway? Go to high school for real?"

"Well, we'll miss you." Alice tried to hug her, but Elle stepped back.

"Really? That wasn't the feeling I got last time we talked."

"I was mad at you for breaking my brother's heart, but you came through eventually. And of course I'm grateful to you for finding out where I came from. If it wasn't for you I would never have known - I would never have seen my sister again."

Elle shrugged off Alice's gratitude. "I was just looking for something I could use to help Edward; it was just a coincidence that I found out about you at the same time."

"However you came by it, it doesn't change my feelings." She moved away. "I'll let you and Edward have a moment alone."

They had avoided looking at or speaking to one another during the ride to the airport, neither wanting to say what had to be said, but it couldn't be put off any longer. "Is this really goodbye?" Edward asked, distress evident in his quiet voice.

"It doesn't have to be. We have phones and Internet, you know."

"That's not good enough. I don't know how I'm going to tolerate not being with you, not being able to touch you…"

"You could stay here," Elle suggested.

Edward sighed. "No, I can't. The sun-"

"I bet there are lots of rich guys in New York City who sleep all day and only come out at night to party. You'd fit right in."

"How is staying cooped up inside all day any better than the cell I just got out of? And even if I stayed in the same state, you would still be living in the facility. Not with me. Also, hunting would be inconvenient, and Esme would be upset if I didn't come home."

"Okay, I can see your point. That doesn't mean I like it," she added petulantly, arms crossed stubbornly over her chest.

Edward took hold of her wrists and gently pulled her arms down to her sides, pinning them there as he pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her deeply, almost desperately, until the call for his plane to begin boarding came over the loudspeakers; then he reluctantly let her go. "I'll miss you."

"Come on, Edward! It's time to go!" Alice called. She was already in the line of passengers shuffling toward the chute leading from the terminal into the plane.

"I'm coming! Goodbye, Elle." He hurried off to join his sister in line.

"I'll miss you too," Elle whispered. Her voice got lost amid the chatter and noise of the busy airport, but Edward glanced back at her, their eyes meeting for an instant; he had heard. Then he was gone. Soon after, the Haitian - her babysitter, she thought with a surge of annoyance - approached, his dark eyes boring searchingly into her. "No, I do not wish I was going with him," she snapped. "You weren't there long enough to tell, but Forks is really boring."

The Haitian was silent, as always, yet seemed to radiate disbelief.

Elle huffed; she wasn't in the mood for an argument in which she'd have to do all the talking. "Come on, let's just go home."

**I know in the show Angela's sister was younger than her, but I figured here it had to be the other way around or Alice would've been too young when she was changed. If Angela was about fifteen when they were at Coyote Sands that would make Alice about eighteen or nineteen.**

**Next up: Edward gets a surprise when he returns home. Any guesses what it might be?**


	30. Bella

**As you can guess from the title, Bella Swan shows up in this chapter. Before the story ends both Edward and Elle will encounter their canon love interests. How will this affect their relationship?**

Chapter 30: Bella

_2 days later_

"Are you sure you want to do this, Edward?" Esme's eyes were wide with concern as they probed his. "You can take more time…"

"Yes, I'm sure," he patiently reiterated for the third time. "There's no reason I shouldn't go back to school; although I don't enjoy it it's important to our blending in here, and my absence already looks strange enough without prolonging it further."

"That's true; some teachers have asked me if I knew when he would be back," Alice commented.

Esme didn't look convinced. "I'm just worried about you. You seem to have recovered from losing Elle so fast that I can't help thinking you haven't really given yourself enough time to fully process it."

"Please stop thinking that." Edward glanced around the room at the rest of the family. "That goes for all of you - I wish you would all stop thinking about me 'losing' Elle. I haven't lost anything; I just spoke with her yesterday-"

"Over the phone, because she's in New York, not here with you," Rosalie interjected slyly. "Her job matters more to her than you do."

"Rosalie," Carlisle said warningly.

"What? I'm just saying that I don't see how their relationship can last like this."

"Well that's an opinion you can keep to yourself," Edward snapped. "I am going back to school tomorrow, and Elle and I are still together, and that's that."

###

When Edward returned to school on Monday morning, his first stop was the attendance office - he'd been absent for a week after all - where he lied his way through a series of questions from Mrs. Cope. Where had he been? What had happened? Why hadn't any of his siblings been able to say where he'd gone? And finally: "Do you know if Elle will be coming back to school as well?"

Edward's tongue seemed to freeze; he swallowed hard and said, "No… No, I don't think she's coming back."

Mrs. Cope nodded, not seeming to notice him choking up. "Oh, all right. I guess that's lucky - we've just had another new student join us, and if Elle came back as well there really wouldn't be enough room-"

"New student? What new student?" Edward demanded.

Eager to share the gossip, Mrs. Cope leaned forward. "Police Chief Swan's daughter, Isabella. The chief's wife left town with her when she was just a baby, and now she's moved back. She started here just last Wednesday."

"How fascinating," Edward said flatly. Really, he couldn't care less about Isabella Swan. She might be taking Elle's place in the school, but she was sure to be a poor substitute.

###

Isabella, or Bella as she preferred to be called, arrived in the biology lab and headed for the seat that used to be Elle's. When she looked up and saw that the other side of the table was occupied she stopped short, stepped on her own toes, fell and scrambled back up, blushing furiously. No one reacted with any surprise or concern - it seemed Bella Swan fell down a lot. She put her head down and scurried the rest of the way to her stool, dropped onto it and hunched up as if trying to disappear.

With her timid demeanor, lack of coordination, and understated outfit - she wore blue jeans, a brown sweater, and tennis shoes - she seemed to be the polar opposite of Elle, at least until her scent hit Edward's nose. She smelled like freesias and strawberries, and underneath those pleasant aromas he could smell her blood…which carried the unmistakable scent that marked her as an evolved human.

At first Edward felt only surprise - after more than a hundred years of not even knowing these people existed, the odds that he would be partnered with two of them consecutively in the same class had to be very long indeed - which quickly gave way to curiosity and caution. Did she know what he was too? How would she react? Was she dangerous? He listened for her thoughts but heard nothing. Everyone else's inner monologues came through loud and clear; he could even pick out mental 'voices' from the neighboring classrooms, but nothing from the girl sitting right beside him. Not knowing what she was thinking could prove inconvenient, but as powers went an impenetrable mind wasn't a very threatening one. He relaxed.

Feeling his stare, Bella glanced over at him, inadvertently looking straight into his probing golden eyes. Her face turned red and she immediately dropped her gaze to her book, letting her hair fall over her shoulder as if to shield herself from further scrutiny.

Edward looked away, which seemed to give the poor girl some relief, though he still saw her fingers trembling when she folded her hands on the tabletop. She spent the rest of class trying to get as far from him as possible without falling off her stool; he spent it surreptitiously watching her while pretending to be engrossed in the chapter review questions Mr. Banner assigned, an act that didn't fool her for a minute. As soon as the bell rang she jumped up and hurried out, mumbling apologies to the people she ran into in her rush to escape.

Edward took his time gathering up his things, then strolled out like he didn't have a care in the world. He didn't see Bella again until after the final bell rang and he headed out toward his car; that was when he caught a glimpse of her talking to Jessica Stanley. Hearing his name in their conversation, he stopped to listen.

"-Something weird about the way he stared at me," Bella was saying. "It freaked me out a little."

"I wouldn't read too much into it if I were you - the Cullens are always weird," Jessica said reassuringly, "although Edward's girlfriend seems to have disappeared, so maybe you should be worried if he's checking you out now."

A light pink flush tinted Bella's cheeks. "I don't think he was checking me out, especially if he already has a girlfriend."

"Well I don't know if he does anymore or not. Neither of them came to school for about a week so everyone thought maybe they ran away together, but now that he's come back without her I'm starting to wonder if he did something to her."

"Jess! That's a terrible thing to say!"

Jessica shrugged. "Like I said, the whole family isn't _right_. They have no friends and nobody's ever been inside their house. It wouldn't surprise me if they turned out to be serial killers. Oh my God, he's watching us right now! How creepy!"

Bella looked over her shoulder, measuring the distance separating them from Edward. "I don't think he can hear us from here. …Can he?"

Edward waved at the girls. Bella frowned and turned her back to him.

###

"She's like me?" It was eight at night, New York time, which was when Edward and Elle usually conducted their daily chats on the phone or Skype. Tonight they were using Skype, allowing Edward to watch Elle's reaction as he described his new lab partner; her interest was obvious. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, it's almost like Forks is turning into Haven."

"I don't think Forks is that overrun with my kind - Bella Swan only makes an evolved population of one. What does she do?"

"She trips frequently, and I think she may suffer from idiopathic craniofacial erythema."

"I don't know what that is. Something with her face?"

"It means she blushes very easily."

"That's great, Edward," Elle growled, "but last time I checked _blushing_ wasn't one of the abilities we typically look out for. Is that the best you can do?"

He grinned. "The fact that I couldn't hear her thoughts also stood out. I don't think you need to worry about her; she's quite harmless."

Elle had sat back in her chair, pondering what she'd just learned; now she leaned forward again, her nose almost touching her computer screen. "You can't know that for sure. I want you to keep an eye on her."

"I'm not your spy," Edward said sharply, "and I have no interest in Bella Swan."

Elle frowned. "You better not, or I'll have to fly down there and fry the little bitch."

"That won't be necessary." Boring though she might be, Bella seemed like a nice girl, and he didn't want to bring Elle's anger down on her. Elle would eat her alive. "If you're ever in Forks again I'd rather you come to see me."

"Maybe I will; they're not really using me for anything here, and I know other agents get vacations. I've never asked for one 'cause I didn't have anywhere to go, but I should be able to get time off too."

"Don't you think your father would put a stop to it if he knew you wanted to use your vacation time to visit Forks, though?"

"Daddy's leaving for some meeting with Mr. Linderman in Vegas next week. Who says he has to know?" She flashed a sly smile at the webcam.

"You would lie to him?" Edward was surprised but also pleased that Elle's loyalty to her father seemed to be wavering.

Her smile faltered. "I wasn't gonna lie, exactly - I just wouldn't tell him. That's not the same as lying…is it?"

He quickly assured her that it wasn't. It _was_ a lie by omission, but he didn't want to make her reconsider sharing her plans with Bob, who would probably put her in a Level Five cell before he'd let her gain any degree of independence from him.

It worked; she didn't worry any more about Bob. "See you next week then."

"I can't wait."

"Well you're gonna have to. Of course if you need something to keep you busy till then, you could always check up on Bella."

"Your memory may not be as good as mine, but I know you remember me saying I don't want to do that."

Elle rolled her eyes. "So you've killed people, but spying on teenage girls goes against your moral sensibilities?" Edward's lips pressed into a thin line and his eyes hardened; seeing that she had offended him, she quickly backtracked. "Sorry, that was a little harsh. I know you don't want to hurt people anymore. You don't want her to hurt anybody either, do you?"

"You didn't see her, Elle - I doubt she would be capable of hurting anyone even if she wanted to." He sighed. "Is there no way I can convince you that she really is not worth your interest?"

"Probably not, but I am starting to wonder why you care so much. Are you afraid I'll do something bad to her?" she asked tauntingly.

"Are you saying you wouldn't?" he countered.

"Only to stop her from doing bad stuff to someone else. You may not think she's dangerous, but you didn't think _I_ was dangerous at first, did you?"

Edward was forced to admit she had a point, but the next day as he watched Bella shuffle to her seat in Mr. Banner's lab he really couldn't imagine her posing a threat to anyone. Even if her ability was somehow dangerous, he doubted she would ever use it aggressively. "Hello," he said softly as she sat down.

She stiffened, then peeked across the table to check if he was really speaking to her. "Hi," she said uncertainly. "Is there, um…something you need?"

He silently gave her points for being tactful enough not to say 'what do you want?' even though he would have bet his most prized possession that that was what she was actually thinking. "We'll be sitting next to one another in this class for the rest of the school year, and since you seem uncomfortable with that arrangement I thought I should tell you that I'm not a serial killer. My girlfriend is alive and well in New York."

Bella's face went bright red. "Oh no, you did hear me and Jess yesterday! I'm so sorry, and I want you to know I-I didn't believe what she was saying…about you and your family…" She snapped her mouth shut, fearful that she had said the wrong thing.

"Don't worry, we're all well aware of what they say about us in town. We've become inured to the gossip over the years."

"Lucky you," she muttered. "I hate how everyone's been talking about me since I moved here."

"They'll get over the excitement of your arrival soon enough."

"I hope so."

Mr. Banner called the class to order, giving them no chance to talk further, but Bella already seemed to have let go of her misgivings about Edward - she didn't keep as much space between them as she had yesterday. When the bell rang, she gave him a tentative smile before she left.

_Wednesday night_

"My request for time off was approved and I'm flying to Seattle on Sunday," Elle announced when Edward answered her call, completely dispensing with greetings. She didn't seem thrilled by the news.

"So why do you sound unhappy?" he asked. "Having second thoughts?"

"No. They're only letting me out on the condition that I have a babysitter, so Bennet's coming with me."

"Oh." This was an unpleasant surprise - still, while Edward wasn't eager to see the man again, having him along was hardly the worst possible turn of events.

"At least he won't be around all the time - he doesn't want to sleep in a house full of vampires."

"But you do?" He had hoped she would stay with him but, aside from telling her she would be welcome in the Cullen house, he hadn't pushed the issue.

"I don't see the point in staying in a hotel when you have a perfectly good house. Just keep Rosalie away from me if you want to still have a sister when I go home."

Edward heard Rosalie scoff from downstairs. _That won't be a problem - as if I would want to hang around the human anyway!_

"Don't worry about her; she won't bother you."

"Good. And what about Bella?"

Edward sighed. He'd thought - or maybe just hoped - that Elle had forgotten her. "She hasn't massacred the town yet."

"Okay, then I guess I won't need to spend any of my time in Forks checking her out." Edward seemed glad to hear that. Elle smiled. She would keep her promise; she wouldn't go near Bella Swan. At first she thought capturing Bella might be a good way to earn more points with her bosses, although she didn't really need to - killing James had more than made up for her screwing up the Jeremy Greer case - but now she had other plans for the girl.

**Next chapter: Elle arrives in Forks and she and Edward have a nice night together, while Bella has an absolutely terrible night.**


	31. Reunited

**It took multiple rewrites to get this chapter the way I wanted it, and it feels like it's taken forever! Has it been forever? Anyway, it's finally done and has some romantic fluff (our favorite couple deserve some fun after everything I put them through) and a warning for off-screen violence and assault.**

Chapter 31: Reunited

_SeaTac Airport - Sunday afternoon_

Elle stepped out of the airplane's loading chute with a sigh of relief at feeling solid ground under her feet again. She ignored Noah's voice telling her he was going to go retrieve their luggage and focused instead on searching the crowd for the reason she had just put herself through another hellishly long, nerve-wracking flight - one made even longer and more nerve-wracking by turbulence and the delays that plagued airlines on a daily basis. _Next time he can fly to New York to see me, because there is no way I am doing this again!_

She finally spotted him outside an airport bookstore and ran toward him, discreetly zapping anyone who didn't get out of her way fast enough. Edward easily halted her momentum as she crashed into him and flung herself into his arms. "The damn plane sat on the runway for _fifteen minutes_ after landing before they let us get off."

"I know - Alice told me there would be a delay."

"Just another thing I hate about-" Her complaint was cut short by Edward crushing their lips together. He didn't seem inclined to let go until her oxygen ran out, so she let herself get lost in the kiss while running her hands over every part of him she could reach, familiarizing herself once again with the sharply angular planes of his face, his messy hair, the lean, hard muscles in his arms and chest…

Finally, when her mind was emptied of everything except him, he pulled back. "I'm sorry, it was rude of me to interrupt. What were you saying?"

"Airlines suck, blah, blah, blah… Shut up and kiss me again."

"Hold that thought," Noah ordered as he walked up to them, panting slightly under the weight of Elle's bags and both of their suitcases (his was much smaller). He unceremoniously dumped hers, and the bags, at her feet with a sigh of relief. "There's your stuff. You know where I'll be if you need me." He started to walk away, then turned back. "Try not to need me."

"You don't trust me to stay out of trouble?" Elle asked sweetly. Noah's answering glare made it clear he didn't.

"Where is he going?" Edward asked as the Company man vanished into the crowd. "I thought he was meant to be your…chaperone?"

She scoffed at his word choice. "You can say 'babysitter', Edward, we both know that's what he is - until he found more productive things to do with his time."

"You must be joking." His tone became darkly disapproving as he listened to her thoughts. She wasn't even trying to censor them; she was proud of what she'd done. "You told him about Bella? You know that when it comes to people like you that man is as dedicated a hunter as James was, and you sent him after her even though I told you repeatedly to leave her alone?"

"It was the best way to get rid of him. Your precious Bella will be fine - even if he decides to bag and tag her she won't get hurt. She won't even remember it. Admit it, you're glad he's off chasing her instead of hanging around us, making sure we don't misbehave." She leaned in until their lips almost touched and laid the flirtatious inflection on even thicker. "We'll have way more fun without him."

Edward resigned himself to giving in to her again. He couldn't defend Bella anymore; that he had tried to in the first place had probably been a factor in Elle's actions, because although she would never admit it, she was jealous. It was just convenient that her desire to lash out at the girl she wrongly perceived as a potential rival fell in line so well with her desire to get rid of her sitter. _And honestly, I won't mind if we don't see much of Noah Bennet._ Faced with the prospect of finally having Elle all to himself again, it was hard to care about anything else. Bella, who was barely even a friend, meant nothing to him compared to his mate. Yes, she was an innocent human who didn't deserve to get hurt, but Elle said - and truly thought - she wouldn't. He would have to trust her. "All right, love."

He effortlessly lifted all her bags and suitcase and led her out of the airport into a heavily overcast day. Alice had promised there would be no rain, but Elle still wanted to get into the car quickly. The familiar silver Volvo, however, was nowhere to be seen. "Where's your car?"

"The one you're thinking of is in the garage at home; the one I'm driving today is right over there." He pointed out his Aston Martin.

"The special occasion car? Is today something special?"

"We're finally together again after the longest two weeks of my existence, so I would say yes. Also, I'm going to take you out this evening."

"I hope you mean on a date, not 'take me out' like in a hit."

That comment made Edward smile for the first time since she told him about using Bella as bait for Noah. "Yes, I am talking about a date. We have dinner reservations at seven-fifteen, and I'm afraid you're a touch underdressed."

"What's wrong with what my outfit?" She was wearing tan slacks and a glittery gold sweater topped with a beige leather jacket - a more understated choice than her usual attire, but since Edward sometimes voiced the opinion that her usual attire was almost indecent she had decided to forego her favorite miniskirt and rubber boots. "If you wanted me to dress up you should've said so."

"Alice took the liberty of selecting new clothes for you." Elle's eyes narrowed. "I tried to talk her out of it, but if I didn't agree to give you the dress she bought she threatened to drive up to Seattle herself, grab you the minute you walked off the plane, and whisk you off for a complete makeover. Trust me, you're getting off lightly."

"So where is this dress I'm supposed to wear?"

###

Twenty minutes later she emerged from the backseat wearing a rose-colored satin dress, matching high heels, pink diamond jewelry, and a disgruntled expression. The ensemble also included a filmy white wrap which she held out between her thumb and forefinger like a dead rat. "This looks like something Mrs. Petrelli would wear."

Edward disagreed, but there was no denying that the dress, with its high neckline and knee-length pleated skirt, was a bit conservative for her taste. "Hardly; I think it's lovely, although I can't be an objective critic - you can make anything you wear look good. I could take you to shop for another dress, but I didn't think to allow time for that when I made plans for this evening-"

"Well, I'd hate to mess up your plans." _Plans you never asked me about…_

"Don't worry, you're going to like this. One of the benefits of my telepathy is that I know exactly what you want." In fact, he knew what she wanted better than she did. The price and prestige of the restaurant they went to meant nothing to Elle; what did matter to her was that her father could afford to indulge in the finest dining New York had to offer every night, but he never wanted to take her along. He never wanted to take her _anywhere_ with him, treating her like some embarrassing secret to be locked away out of sight - and out of mind except when she could be useful to him. _She deserves so much better than what he gives her,_ Edward thought for the umpteenth time. _What I wouldn't give to rid her of him…_ But unfortunately she was still rather attached to Bob. Breaking her away from him would be a slow, and very possibly long, process, but her decision to see him without Bob's knowledge was a step in the right direction.

Her voice suddenly cut through the Debussy CD he had put on for background music. "Are you okay? You looked like you were thinking about some pretty heavy stuff."

"Did I?" He thought he'd been doing a flawless job of hiding his thoughts while driving and maintaining their conversation. "How can you tell what I'm thinking?"

"It's all in your eyes."

"You are the only thing on my mind, and having carried you I can assure you that you're very light." It was only half a lie; everything on his mind was connected to her after all. _But I shouldn't be thinking those things._ Dwelling on his festering hatred for Bob Bishop wouldn't do any good, and pondering how to keep Elle by his side for good - forever - was downright dangerous. While he knew one surefire way of facilitating a break between her and Primatech, it wasn't tenable; not only were the ethics of it cloudy at best, she had made it clear she didn't want to be like him. He wouldn't change her only to have her hate him forever. Also, the thought of Elle as a vampire was frightening. As a human she was dangerous; with her powers amplified by the change she would be lethal, unstoppable.

She wasn't convinced, but before she could press the issue he stopped the car and announced that they had arrived. Then he was helping her out, giving one of the valets a key to the Vanquish, and ushering her into the restaurant. At his request they were seated in a corner booth separated from the adjoining ones by high glass partitions.

"Well, this is nice and private," Elle commented.

"It's a compromise - I wanted to take you on a proper date, but I also want you all to myself. Besides, I didn't care for the way the maître d' looked at you. He was thinking some very inappropriate things." A soft growl rumbled in the back of Edward's throat.

"What about the way our waitress looked at _you_ when she asked what we wanted to drink?"

"I wasn't paying attention to her."

"_I_ was, and I don't need to read her mind to know she wants you. Ugh, she's coming back." Elle moved over to his side of the table, putting herself between him and the waitress.

She set a tall glass of Coke in front of Elle and then whipped out her little notepad. "Are you guys ready to order?"

"Yes, I want the peppered salmon with lemon."

The waitress jotted it down, then peered past Elle to Edward. "And what can I get for you, sir?"

"He's not hungry," Elle answered for him, "are you, baby?" In case her use of such an intimate address and the lack of space between them weren't enough of a hint for the waitress to back off, she ran her fingers up his arm and purred, "Or are you just waiting for dessert?" Mentally she added, _Play along._

So he wrapped her in his arms and replied, "The second one. Definitely," as he pushed her hair out of the way and put his mouth to her neck. The waitress left looking bummed out, and Elle smiled in satisfaction. "That wasn't very nice, love," Edward gently chastised her - perhaps too gently, since it had no effect on her whatsoever.

"She shouldn't have been checking you out when it was obvious you're with me. I don't like competition."

"No one can compete with you. They're all so ordinary in comparison that I barely notice anyone else when you're in the room."

"Wow…flattery really will get you everywhere," she said breathlessly as he continued kissing her. Then she started shivering from the icy touch of his lips.

He pulled away, retrieved her wrap from the corner of their leather-padded seat where she had stuffed it, and draped it around her.

She pouted. "I told you I didn't want to wear the old-lady shawl…thing."

"Unless you want to move back to the other side of the table you need it to keep you warm, and I don't think it detracts from your appearance in the least."

Elle groaned in protest but kept the shawl on. "I swear, sometimes I think you could talk me into anything."

"If only that were true," Edward murmured.

Elle's human ears only just picked up the sound. "What'd you say?"

"Nothing of any importance, love."

###

When they left the restaurant almost an hour later, Edward informed Elle that her phone had been vibrating almost nonstop for the last ten minutes.

"Probably just a wrong number."

"If that's all it is, they're very persistent. I think it's more likely to be Noah Bennet."

She pulled the phone out of her tiny clutch purse and checked the list of missed calls. "Ugh, you're right. What could he want?" The instant it went off again, she answered and snapped, "What is it, Bennet? Aren't you supposed to be monitoring Bella Swan?" _Instead of me?_

"The doctors are taking care of that; she's in the hospital in Port Angeles."

"You put her in the hospital? Did she attack you?"

"We should discuss this in person. Is Edward still with you?"

"Yes, we-"

"Good, bring him and meet me at the Port Angeles warehouse." He hung up.

Elle returned her phone to her purse and nervously looked up into Edward's face, which was set in a stony expression. "Whatever put Bella in the hospital, I swear I didn't know it was going to happen. I may not have liked her seeing you every day when I couldn't, but I had nothing to do with this."

"I know you didn't. Come on, let's find out what's happened and why Bennet wants to speak with me about it."

###

"I tracked Bella Swan here, to Port Angeles," Noah explained when they met up with him, "but before I caught up with her she was accosted by four men - just local thugs, I think. She was hurt badly-"

"How badly?" Edward and Elle asked almost in unison.

"There was blood everywhere…and signs of sexual assault. I called 911 as soon as I found her, but I don't know if she'll make it." Noah seemed shaken by the gory scene he'd encountered; it was the strongest reaction Elle had ever seen from him.

"It's very fortunate for her you were there," Edward remarked. "Otherwise she might not have been found until it was too late."

"Yeah, great, but what does any of this have to do with us?" Elle asked.

"Why don't you ask your boyfriend? He's Bella's friend, isn't he?"

Edward's eyes narrowed at Noah's tone; the agent kept his thoughts too closely guarded for Edward to be sure what he was insinuating, but he guessed he wasn't going to like it. "You could say that - which you obviously are. I like her well enough."

"Well enough to be upset that she was gang-raped and nearly murdered?"

"It's always upsetting when an innocent girl is the victim of a brutal crime. Get to the point."

"My point, Mr. Cullen, is that the men who hurt your friend are dead. Their bodies were still warm when I arrived so they couldn't have been killed more than a few minutes after they finished with the girl, but there was no one else nearby. Whoever did it beat all four of them to death and then disappeared, and their injuries were so severe that the killer had to have had superhuman strength."

"Are you accusing me?" Edward demanded.

"That's ridiculous! First of all, he's been with me since you left us at the airport, and I think I'd have noticed him killing four people. Plus, like you said, Bella's his friend. He wouldn't have left her bleeding in the street, would he? There's no way he did this," Elle said adamantly.

To her astonishment, Noah dropped it without further inquiry. "Well, that's too bad. I really hoped he did."

"Why, so you could- Wait, what would you do to him anyway? Those dead guys are rapists. Why's it matter who killed them?"

"Because, Elle, the person behind those deaths is very strong, very fast, and has a predilection for violence," Edward explained. "Whether they're my kind or yours, they are dangerous, and if they don't limit their aggressive behavior to criminals, nobody in this city is safe."

**So poor Bella's barely alive, and there may be a killer with superpowers in the area - anyone want to guess who it is? Also Edward's considering turning Elle but is a little afraid (and can you blame him? She would be one scary-ass vampire) and he's getting impatient to be rid of Bob. So am I, so I've decided Bob's gonna die at the end of this story. You all don't mind if I kill Bob, right?**


	32. Promise

**Not much action in this chapter, but there is a little bit of a mystery. Luckily vampires make great detectives.**

Chapter 32: Promise

"Oh. That sounds bad."

"Yes, it certainly does," Noah agreed. "That's why you won't object to helping me track down the responsible party, will you? Think of it as a working vacation."

"Maybe she won't object," Edward cut in before Elle could say whether she did or not, "but I will. I'm well aware that she's far from defenseless, but pitting her abilities against those of a killer who may not even be human is too dangerous. I won't allow it."

"Hey! Since when do I need your permission to do my job?"

Her protests went unheeded by Edward and Noah, the latter talking right over her. "I understand your concerns - maybe you'd like to join us so you can make sure she's safe?"

His suggestion surprised Elle so much that she forgot all about being angry at Edward's overprotective attitude. "You actually want him to work with us?"

"Yes, I do. Most people in the Company would rather steer clear of vampires, but I think when lives are at risk it'd be foolish not to use every available resource to eliminate the danger. So what do you say, Cullen?"

"Of course I'll help." Edward's demeanor suddenly changed; in the blink of an eye he went from amiable to darkly menacing. "Keep in mind, though, that I am not a resource for you to use. My only concern in all this is ensuring Elle's safety. Is that clear?"

Noah, having suddenly gained a much better understanding of why everyone had kept as much distance as possible between themselves and the vampire while he was being held in the Hartsdale facility, quickly replied, "Crystal."

Edward admired his ability to keep his voice steady when most men would have been quaking in fear. _If I couldn't read this one's mind, I would have thought I hadn't ruffled him at all._ He smiled, making sure to bare his teeth, and said, "I'm glad we understand each other."

"Is the macho pissing contest over yet?" Elle asked. Watching Edward intimidate Noah - a feat she had thought impossible - was fun, but she didn't want to listen to them quarrel for the rest of the night. Besides, she didn't care for her boyfriend paying more attention to Noah Bennet than to her, even if it was just to butt heads with him. "'Cause I thought, if you're not too busy establishing who's the alpha male here, we might go to where Bennet found those creeps' bodies and see if you can pick up the scent of whoever killed them." She looked at Noah. "Since you invited him to hang around us, he might as well do something to help."

Noah expected him to refuse, but what he'd said about not wanting to be used apparently did not apply to Elle. He even offered to drive them to the crime scene, an offer Noah regretted taking him up on once he learned that Edward tended to drive like he was trying to escape the apocalypse. Any hopes he had of Elle telling him to slow down were dashed when he peered around the back of her seat (she was riding shotgun, while he had been relegated to the backseat) and saw that she seemed to be having fun watching the town whiz past her window. _She's crazy,_ he decided,_ not just screwed up from the things that that were done to her as a child; she's actually insane._ Then he remembered he was in range of a telepath who probably wouldn't appreciate him thinking such negative things about her and quickly channeled his thoughts in a safer direction just in case the vampire was listening.

Edward _was_ listening, at least until Noah started thinking about his wife's prize Pomeranian, but he didn't react to what he'd heard. Although Noah's doubts about Elle's sanity made him angry, he was more interested in the allusion to something having been done to her when she was younger; the idea of anyone hurting her nearly sent him into a blind rage, and he wanted nothing more than to stop the car and force Noah to give him a name so he could hunt that person down and make them pay with their life…but this wasn't the time or place, not with her here. He didn't want to stir up bad memories for her, so his inquiries into her past would be carried out without her knowledge.

Then they reached the crime scene, and his concern over Elle's childhood trauma was pushed aside in favor of a more immediate worry; the alley was splattered with more human blood than he'd come in contact with since his stint as a non-vegetarian. He stopped breathing, but that was almost no help since he had already smelled it. Elle's presence was all that kept his bloodlust in check; he refused to behave like a mindless animal in front of her.

She noticed him tensing up and edged closer, searching his face for a clue as to what had affected him so suddenly and strongly. Maybe it was just a trick of the alleyway's dim lighting, but his eyes appeared darker than they had been just a short while ago. "Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"You don't look fine. You look like you're in pain."

"Not hurt," he assured her, leaving out unnecessary words to make the most of what air was left in his lungs. "Just…the blood."

"Oh." She examined the scene and saw that there was indeed a lot of blood: four large spatters where the four men had met their grisly end, and a smaller bloodstain on the ground which must have been left when they assaulted Bella. Imagining what they did to the girl to cause that much bleeding turned Elle's stomach, but the gory scene seemed to have the opposite effect on Edward. She lowered her voice so Noah wouldn't hear and asked, "Is this making you thirsty?"

Eyes closed so as not to see her reaction, he nodded.

"Something wrong with your vampire, Elle?" Noah called out.

"He's fine," she called back, "but you should stay back." Her blood was less appealing to vampires than a normal human's, so she wasn't worried about Edward attacking her; the same wasn't true for Noah. If Edward's thirst got the better of him, her partner might be in danger. "You're not gonna go into some kind of feeding frenzy, are you?" she asked warily.

He took in a quick breath and answered, "No, I've abstained from feeding on human blood long enough to build up a resistance, although this is the first time I've put it to the test."

"And?"

Edward inhaled again, deeper this time. "And it seems I'm strong enough to withstand the temptation…but it's hard to smell anything else under all this blood. The only scents I can detect are Bella's and those of the four men who assaulted her."

"That doesn't make sense. There had to be a fifth person. Maybe you just can't smell them because they weren't bleeding?"

But he was shaking his head before she finished speaking. "The paramedics who came for Bella didn't leave blood here, and I can smell them."

"How do you know it's the paramedics? Maybe one of the other scents you're picking up belongs to the killer."

"I know because, like everyone who works in the medical field, the paramedics smell like disinfectant and the latex used in their gloves. Also, their scents are fresher than the blood, so I know they arrived after the men were killed. I'm sorry, Elle, but as far as I can tell no one else was here."

She sighed. "Well, I can't think of anything else we can do tonight, and I think jet lag's starting to kick in. Let's ditch Bennet and go to your place, okay?"

###

Emmett bounded up to greet them the minute they arrived and eagerly asked, "So how was the big date?" Behind him, the rest of the family could be seen grouped throughout the living room, trying and mostly succeeding at not looking too interested.

"It was a very…eventful evening."

Emmett's grin transformed into a bemused frown. "Is that good or bad?"

"It's a long story-" Edward began, but Elle cut him off.

"We had dinner at some fancy restaurant and everything went great until my babysitter called to tell us that Edward's friend Bella Swan got gang-raped by four lowlifes-" Esme and Rosalie gasped in horror "-and then somebody killed them. Whoever did it covered their scent so that even after I had Edward sniff around we still have no clue about them. All we know is that there's a murderer or vigilante with superpowers running around Port Angeles."

"All right, not such a long story after all," Edward muttered.

"By the way, Alice," Elle continued, "what's with this outfit? An old-lady shawl? Seriously? Did you think he was taking me to bingo night at the senior center?"

"Did I hear you right?" Rosalie demanded, eyes flashing with fury. "After what happened to that poor girl, all you can think about is that you don't like Alice's choice of couture?"

Elle shrugged. "I'm a sociopath - what do you expect? I don't even know Bella Swan, and I can't help her by getting upset. The doctors will take care of her."

"Calm down, Rose." Esme put a comforting arm around her daughter. "We understand why this is so distressing for you, but Elle has a point. There's nothing more that can be done for her now, and not by us. You could be a little more sensitive, though," she added pointedly to Elle.

Sensing a surge of irritation from Elle, Jasper tried to calm her. "She's just tired, Mom. Edward, why don't you take her to bed?"

"I can take myself to bed!" she snapped. "Good night, Jasper." As she passed him on her way to the staircase, she pulled off her wrap and draped it over his head. He snatched it off with a scowl at Emmett, who was laughing his head off, and dropped it on the sofa.

Alice picked it up, a forlorn look on her face. "It's not fair; she's so pretty that I'm dying to redo her wardrobe, and she won't let me! Humans are supposed to be easy for us to manage, but you just had to find the one human who can electrocute me if I try to get her into a decent dress, didn't you, Edward?"

"I'm sorry, Alice, I didn't realize willingness to be dressed up like a doll should be a criterion in my choice of a mate. Carlisle, would you check on Bella in the morning? Charlie Swan thinks very highly of you; he'll let you see her."

"Of course I will."

Edward thanked Carlisle, then went upstairs. Elle was still in the bathroom, so he waited outside the door and inadvertently startled her when she came out. "So where am I sleeping?" she asked once she had explained to him why most humans jumped when they opened a door to find a person unexpectedly standing there.

"In my room."

"But you don't have a bed." She couldn't recall the exact dimensions of his couch, but she supposed it would be comfortable enough.

Edward laughed softly. "Silly girl - you don't think I would make you sleep on a couch, do you?" He opened the door to his room, revealing the deluxe king-size bed he had purchased for her use.

Her eyes went wide - she hadn't known they made beds this big - and she wasted no time in crawling onto it and bouncing on the mattress. If she were a little younger and there wasn't an iron-framed canopy overhead, she would have been tempted to jump on it.

"That would be a very bad idea," Edward told her. "I'd rather not have you hospitalized for a concussion tonight. You like the bed, then?"

"Yeah, it's great."

"Would you object to sharing it with me?"

Elle hesitated before answering, unsure if she would or not. She'd woken up with Edward twice, and it hadn't been unpleasant, but both times she had fallen asleep somewhere else and he had carried her to bed with her none the wiser. She had never actually tried to get to sleep while he - or anyone else, for that matter - was in bed with her. It was bound to be awkward, but, she reasoned, it couldn't be worse than trying to sleep with him watching her from the corner, and she couldn't ask him to leave the room altogether; it was _his_ room after all. Kicking him out of his own room was too impolite even for her. "Sure, I guess. You want to put on some pj's or sweats or something?"

"I don't have any." Elle gaped, amazed that there was anything in the world Edward Cullen didn't have. He rolled his eyes at her comically exaggerated expression. "I can't sleep so I never saw the need for them."

"That makes sense. So how does this bed-sharing thing work?"

"Just lie down like you normally would."

She crawled under the covers and curled up in her normal sleeping position; once she was settled in, Edward took off his shoes and joined her. She tensed as she felt his body molding to hers, his arms wrapping around her and pulling her close until her back was flush against his chest and their legs were in danger of becoming entangled.

"Is this uncomfortable? Am I making you cold?"

"No," she said honestly - with her flannel pajamas, a sheet, a thick blanket, and the golden comforter between them she was definitely warm enough. "It's just that you've never been this clingy before. What gives?"

"I'm worried about you. What Bennet wants you to do is-"

"Too dangerous? Yeah, you said."

"Then why won't you listen to me? I saw in Bennet's mind exactly what Bella looked like after those animals finished with her, and I can't stand the thought of anyone ever hurting you like that."

"I'll be fine, Edward."

No sooner were the words out of Elle's mouth than she felt herself being flipped over with dizzying speed; when the world righted itself she was nose to nose with a furious-looking vampire. "Don't make promises you might not be able to keep," he snapped. "'High-risk employment' doesn't begin to cover what you do - you can't guarantee you'll be able to keep yourself safe."

"I've done okay at it so far. I'm still alive, right?" Edward said nothing, which Elle took to mean he could find no argument. He still looked unconvinced, though. "Look," she continued with as much sincerity as she could muster, "I promise that no matter how dangerous my job gets, I will always do everything I can to come back to you. You're not going to lose me, so quit worrying." She rolled over, a clear sign that the discussion was over.

Edward didn't try to restart it - he suspected it would be pointless to tell her he wouldn't be able to stop worrying about her simply because she told him to; it wasn't that easy. Nothing had been easy since they met, and he had a feeling that wasn't going to change any time soon.

**Next up: The murder mystery is solved, and Edward learns about Elle's past from Noah.**


	33. Discoveries

**Hope you all had a great holiday and are enjoying 2013. I have a cold and feel like a walking disease right now. **

Chapter 33: Discoveries

Elle lay perfectly still, eyes closed, mentally debating whether to rouse herself fully or go back to sleep. It was Monday morning; her routine dictated that she should get up, but she was supposed to be on vacation, and the bed Edward had provided her with was so much more comfortable than what she was used to that she almost hated to leave it.

Just as she decided the world wouldn't end if she stayed in bed for just five more minutes, the choice was taken out of her hands; Edward kissed her forehead, and his touch was like cold water thrown in her face. Instantly wide awake, Elle raised her hand to caress his cheek…then emitted a low-level electric pulse through her palm. He pulled back but continued leaning over her, refusing to be put off completely. She stared up at him in surprise - he usually moved farther away after she shocked him.

He smiled at the confusion and slight frustration - she wasn't used to people withstanding her power so easily - written on her face. "I don't think you fully appreciate how hard it was for me to be away from you; it's going to take more than a few volts to make me leave your side now." He leaned down again, intent on kissing her lips this time, but was stopped by a loud growl from her stomach. "Ah. You need breakfast."

"It can wait," she protested, but Edward had already removed himself from her personal space and didn't look like he was in the mood for making out anymore. Elle grudgingly got up and opened her suitcase.

"You can hang your clothes in the closet, you know. It would be easier than digging through that thing every morning."

"Then I'd have to repack when I go back to New York." She chose a pair of gray jeans, a matching t-shirt decorated with an abstract but edgy graphic, and a long-sleeved white undershirt, then started unbuttoning her pajama top.

Edward jumped up as if he'd been burned. "I should see if Esme needs help making your breakfast."

Elle's hands froze on the third button from the top. "She doesn't have to do that; I can make my own breakfast."

"She knows she doesn't have to, but she wants to. In fact, she's delighted to finally have an excuse to use the kitchen for its intended purpose. I'll see you downstairs."

"Hey, what happened to never leaving my side again?"

He left without answering, shutting the door firmly behind him; apparently he found nudity more off-putting than electrocution.

###

Esme and Elle, it turned out, had very different ideas on what constituted a good breakfast. Elle's idea of breakfast was cereal, instant oatmeal, a bagel, or anything else requiring five minutes' prep time or less. Esme's idea of breakfast was omelets, French toast, and turkey bacon. "I hope it tastes all right," she said anxiously as she slid a heaping plate in front of the human girl. "I followed the recipes exactly and everything looks like it's supposed to, but we vampires aren't really equipped to judge the smell or taste of human food…"

"It's good," Elle declared after cutting off and sampling a corner of the French toast. Her fork then hovered indecisively over the plate as she tried to decide what to bite into next.

"Well, eat up," Esme encouraged her. "Edward told me your meals usually consist of the most appallingly inadequate things."

"He did?" Elle glared at her boyfriend, who had been put to work washing the frying pan, and he flinched as if he could feel her gaze boring into the back of his head. "Maybe I just don't like to cook." She stabbed her fork into the center of an omelet. "My mom did, though. She made stuff like this all the time."

"That's the first I've ever heard about your mother," Edward remarked.

Elle shrugged. "She died." Esme and Edward responded predictably with expressions of sympathy, and the former apologized for 'bringing up painful memories'. "Don't worry about it. I don't really remember much from back then."

Just then Alice swept into the kitchen like a spiky-haired whirlwind of energy to tell them that Carlisle would soon be back from visiting Bella in the Port Angeles hospital. "I'll leave the medical report to him, but I can tell you she made it through the night." She refused to speculate on Bella's chances of recovery, though.

When Carlisle arrived ten minutes later, he was able to describe her condition in greater detail. "She lost a lot of blood during the assault and suffered severe…internal lacerations, as well as other internal injuries from the beating she received. Three of her ribs were broken, as well as her right arm and leg…in two places. She also had a mild concussion." He paused. "Her face looked like mincemeat; she'll need plastic surgery if she survives. And that was just the physical damage. She regained consciousness for a short time this morning and became so hysterical that she had to be sedated. However, she said some peculiar things while she was awake."

"Like what?" Elle asked.

"She admitted killing all four of her assailants when the leader produced a knife and attempted to slit her throat." Carlisle's eyebrows rose as if he could barely believe his next words. "According to her, she somehow crushed them to death with her mind."

"Ha! I told you she wasn't harmless." Elle shot a triumphant look at Edward.

"If you can put any stock in her version of events. I don't want to argue with you, but I'd be remiss not to point out that she wouldn't have been thinking clearly last night. Perhaps she saw the men die before she passed out and only thought she was responsible."

"How else do you explain the crime scene? You thought you couldn't smell the killer because you were looking for someone other than the four dead guys and Bella Swan, but there just wasn't another scent to find. This is good - we're not looking for some untraceable killer after all. I should call Bennet."

"That won't be necessary," Carlisle told her as she reached for her phone. "I saw your colleague skulking around the hospital before I left."

"Skulking? That's not a very nice word."

"My apologies; I didn't mean-"

Elle grinned as she punched in her sometime partner's number. "Just messing with you - Bennet does skulk. Now I need to find out what he's up to." She put the phone up to her ear. "Hey, Bennet. Miss me?"

"Can't say that I did. What do you need, Elle?"

"To know why Carlisle saw you skulking around the hospital in Port Angeles. Of course I told him you would never skulk anywhere-" She ignored the looks her fib got from the Cullens "-but he thinks you're up to something, and I have to agree since I know you don't clean your glasses without an ulterior motive. Are you gonna bag and tag Bella Swan?"

"I was going to anyway; the fact that she confessed to killing four people, even if her victims were no loss to society, just made it a more urgent matter."

"You could at least wait till she can walk on her own."

"If you've spoken to Dr. Cullen then you should know she might not make it that long, and I have no intention of letting her die before we get a chance to study her. I'm bringing her in tonight."

"So I'll help."

Noah chuckled. "I know you can be persuasive, but I don't think force is the way to go here. She's the police chief's daughter, and you don't have a great track record with small-town cops, so I'm going to use a telepath, or Eden if I can get her down here, to convince her father and doctors to release her into my care. Enjoy your time off, Elle."

"Enjoy kidnapping a battered rape victim, Bennet." She hung up and returned the phone to the case clipped to the pocket of her jeans. "I guess you were all listening?"

They were, and Esme found what she'd overheard very upsetting. "Elle Bishop, after all that girl's already been through, are you really going to let that man abduct her and treat her like some sort of…of _guinea pig_?"

"I can't exactly stop him unless I want to be the one locked up, and I don't. Besides, there are people at the Company who can fix her up better than they could at the hospital. Bennet's a bastard, but he's not totally heartless - he'll make sure someone takes care of her, and they'll erase her memories before they take her home. She won't remember any of it," Elle lied. She didn't know if anyone would be able to get into Bella's mind to alter her memories or if she would be set free once Primatech's scientists finished experimenting on her - after all, she had killed four people; no matter how justified their deaths were, the Company might decide she was too dangerous to be released back into a clueless population that couldn't protect themselves from her - but the lie placated Esme, and no more was said about it.

###

Elle didn't hear from Noah again until the following day; this time he called her. "What is it?" she asked tersely, skipping the greeting and small talk.

Noah also got straight to the point. "I need you to come to the Seattle facility."

"Why?"

"Bella Swan is proving to be more trouble than expected."

"Yesterday you said you didn't need me-"

"And today I'm saying I do."

"I think you just like jerking me around, Bennet."

"I'm not surprised you think that - weren't you diagnosed with paranoid delusions as a child?"

Elle sighed; the only thing worse than Noah being hard on her was when he tried to be funny. "All right, I'll come. Beats another game of Monopoly with Edward's brothers and Alice." That particular attempt to socialize with Edward's family had ended in disaster when Elle got fed up with the slow pace of the game and zapped the board. Half the money was reduced to ash and a few of the houses and hotels were melted. She hung up her phone and turned to Edward, who was currently sharing his piano bench with her; he had been playing for her when he was rudely interrupted by the jarring notes of her ringtone. "Wanna give me a ride to Seattle?"

He agreed, and two hours later Noah Bennet was ushering them into the Seattle facility's isolation ward. "We have to keep her isolated," he explained, "because she panics if anyone gets near her, especially if it's a man."

"That sounds like classic Rape Trauma Syndrome," Edward commented.

Elle stopped and grabbed Noah's sleeve. "Why does she still remember being raped? You didn't bother to erase that? What have you been doing since you brought her here?"

"Her physical injuries were healed, but no one's been able to get inside her head; it's like she has a wall around her mind. I'm afraid we won't even be able to make her forget this place if we decide to let her go…but that's not likely to happen any time soon because we still have no clue what she did to her attackers or whether there's a danger of her doing it to anyone else. That's why you're here - you're a girl her age, so she shouldn't feel threatened by you. I'm hoping you can calm her down."

"Calming people isn't really one of my major talents."

"I know that, but I think you can pull it off as long as you don't use your power on her, don't hurt or scare her, and show a little compassion… Just don't be yourself."

"Fine. I can not be myself for a little while."

Noah unlocked Bella's cell door for Elle, then held Edward back from following her. "I think she'll have better luck getting through to Bella on her own."

"If male company sends her into a panic, I'm sure you're right. Do you have a minute? I have to admit I came here hoping to speak with you privately."

"About what?"

"The night Elle and I accompanied you to the scene of Bella's assault, you thought something about Elle being mentally damaged as a result of some childhood trauma - trauma that someone apparently inflicted on her. I would like to know what you meant by that."

"It's nothing that concerns you."

"Wrong. Everything to do with Elle concerns me, and if someone hurt her, you are going to tell me who they are and where I can find them."

"Knowing won't do you any good. It's all in the past; she's forgotten it."

"Yes, she mentioned that she doesn't recall much of her childhood. The question is, did her memories fade naturally as she grew up, or did someone make her forget?" He moved just close enough to make Noah nervous. "You can tell me - there's no one around to overhear." The words carried a veiled threat: there was no one around to hear if Noah called for help. The two of them were entirely alone.

An image of Thompson's body flashed through Noah's mind. He had looked peaceful at his funeral, but even the mortician's best efforts couldn't hide what James had done to him before he died. Noah had no doubt Edward was capable of doing the same to him. He'd never approved of what was done to Elle anyway; was it really worth taking a beating from an angry vampire to cover up somebody else's dirty laundry? "All right, you win. Elle was brought in as a child when her ability became too much for her mother to cope with - her parents were divorced. She grew up in that place where you found her when you followed her to New York, and she was subjected to the same experiments as any other evolved human who passes through our facilities. The limits of her electrical output were tested… Other tests were conducted to determine if she had any weaknesses. That's how her adverse reaction to water was discovered. She was electrocuted more than a few times."

"Good Lord in heaven," Edward whispered, "and you people call _me_ a monster?"

"The human brain isn't built to handle that much electricity," Noah continued as if he hadn't said anything. "We made her forget the experiments afterward because remembering would only have traumatized her more, but erasing memories leaves its own mark - doing it too often will cause physical damage to the brain. I believe that combined with the electrical overload is what made her the way she is."

Edward was silent a moment; then he asked, "Who did that to her?"

"I don't-"

"Who was it?" he snarled. "Arthur Petrelli? Her father? Thompson? _You?_"

"Thompson never had the juice to order that level of testing on a kid, and neither do I. I'm not going to say who did because I can't see what good it would do - she doesn't remember any of it, and if you make a crusade out of this I'm afraid you'll just end up reopening old wounds. You really love her?"

"She means more to me than my own life," Edward said at once.

"Then do what's best for her; right now the best thing for her is if her past stays buried. I just thought you should know it isn't entirely her fault she's…not the easiest person to live with."

"Are you sure you don't want me to know who ordered the experiments? I could take care of them without her ever finding out; I don't think you'd have a problem with that. I may not be able to sense emotions like my brother Jasper, but I can tell you're conflicted about what was done to her."

"I wasn't conflicted enough to try to stop it. Maybe I could have helped her, but I never did," Noah confessed in an oddly raspy voice. "I made my bed a long time ago, and now there's nothing left for me to do but lie in it."

**Next chapter: Bella's ability is fully explained, though those of you who read my previous Twilight/Heroes series should already know how she managed to kill four people with her mind. Her ability will be slightly different in this story but mostly the same because I love giving her extra badass power.**


	34. Untouchable

**Warning: this chapter has a lot of Elle and Bella interaction, so if you don't like Bella it probably won't be your favorite. Feel free to skip to the scene where Edward discusses evolutionary theory with Elle and gets into a fight with a soda machine. (Yes, you read that right.)**

Chapter 34: Untouchable

When Elle entered the cell, she found Bella curled in a fetal position on her bed, staring blankly at a wall. _So this is the notorious Bella Swan. _She was pretty, Elle thought, but she wasn't doing anything to capitalize on her beauty - her long brown hair was a tangled mess, and her slim figure was swallowed up by Company-issue sweats three sizes too big for her. _Well, she doesn't look like anyone I need to watch out for - I don't think she'll attack me, and she sure isn't going to steal my boyfriend._

Bella didn't move or react to Elle's presence at all. Elle almost thought she was sleeping, except she could see that the girl's eyes were open. Her irises were the color of chocolate. "Bella?" When the brunette still refused to acknowledge her, Elle went over to her and tried to brush the hair back from her face.

That finally roused Bella, who jerked away from the hand reaching toward her, scrambled upright, scuttled backward so that her back was pressed to the wall, and drew her legs up as if trying to compress herself into the smallest amount of space possible. Elle noticed that she kept her knees clamped tightly together. "Don't touch me!"

"Whoa, okay, no touching. That's cool. Keeping my hands to myself here, see?" Elle held up her hands, then shoved them in her pockets. "Mind if I sit down?" Bella didn't answer, just watched warily as she sat cross-legged at the end of the bed. "So…I know who you are, but you don't know me. I'm Elle, like the magazine."

Bella looked away. "I don't read magazines." Now that they had established that Elle wasn't to touch her, her interest in continuing the conversation was visibly waning.

"It's actually short for Eleanor, but if you call me that I may have to kill you."

"Go ahead."

Elle's eyebrows shot up. "You _want_ me to kill you?"

As Bella's gaze refocused sharply on her, Elle was struck by the lifeless emptiness in her eyes. "You have no idea what rape feels like. I can't forget it; the memory's been eating away at me every second since I woke up. I can't stand it after only a day - at least I think it's been a day; I can't really keep track of time in here - how am I supposed to live with it? I don't know if I can."

"Bullshit. I know you don't want to die. You've hung on this long, haven't you?"

"I was lucky…I mean, I guess I was lucky. Someone found me and got help. I would have died if I hadn't gotten to the hospital so fast."

"You could've died sooner if you just let that guy kill you."

Bella's breathing sped up, her pupils dilated, and some feeling entered her voice for the first time. "That was a mistake. I just panicked when I saw the knife and I- I-"

Elle leaned in. "You what?"

Bella snapped her mouth shut, eyes flicking nervously around the room. "I shouldn't talk about that."

"Why not?"

"I don't remember what happened."

It was an obvious lie, and Elle called her on it. "Sure you do. You said you remember everything else, so unless you've got a very selective memory I don't believe you."

Bella squirmed. "My memory must be wrong. It couldn't- Things like that just don't happen! I must've been crazy to come up with it… That's why I'm here, right?"

"Where exactly do you think you are?"

"Some kind of psychiatric hospital, I guess. The place has a clinical feel but it's not like any other hospital I've ever been in, and I feel like I'm losing my mind, so it all makes sense. They locked me in this room too; why would they do that unless they think I'm crazy?" Her eyes narrowed. "This is a strange hospital, though. There's no medical equipment, and I don't think the man with the horn-rimmed glasses who brought me here is even a doctor."

Elle, who had listened to Bella's theory with a mounting sense of incredulous amusement, laughed. "His name's Noah Bennet, and no, he isn't a doctor. That doesn't mean he isn't trying to help you - maybe you've noticed you're in better shape than you were when you got here?"

"Yes…I can't imagine how that happened."

"We have lots of things in this building you can't imagine."

"'We'?" Bella looked suspicious again. "Who is 'we'? Who are _you_, and why are you here? You're too young to be a doctor or nurse… I guess you could be another patient who somehow got her hands on regular clothes-"

"I am _not_ a mental patient," Elle snapped.

Bella recoiled as if expecting to be hit. "I'm sorry! I just… Nothing that's happened since the man with the glasses took me away makes any sense. I just want to go home!"

Elle barely refrained from rolling her eyes, though it wouldn't have mattered since Bella wasn't looking at her face anymore. "You can go home once you tell me what happened after you saw the knife. We just need to make sure nothing's wrong with you before you're released, okay?"

"If I tell it'll only convince you that there is something wrong with me."

_There'll be something wrong with you if you don't!_ A little shock would probably cure Bella's reticence, and Elle was getting so frustrated with her evasiveness that she was almost itching to give her one. The only thing stopping her was the fact that the last people to hurt Bella Swan were dead. Elle didn't want to end up like them, so she kept her mask of friendly concern in place. "Look, whatever happened, I wanna help you deal with it, but I can't do that if you won't be honest with me. I won't judge you or anything. Cross my heart."

Bella still had some doubts about her strange visitor's trustworthiness, but keeping the memory bottled up inside would drive her insane, assuming she wasn't already there. _If she tells my doctors I'll probably never get out, but maybe I shouldn't. It might be safer if I just stayed in here._ She took a deep breath and started talking. "Like I said, I panicked when I saw the knife. I thought I wanted to die so…so the pain would end…but when he held the blade to my throat all I wanted was to get him away from me… That's when the weird stuff happened. A kind of…solid wall of air formed between us and pushed him off, and then it wrapped around him and his friends and squeezed and _squeezed_ them, and I heard their bones breaking and there was blood everywhere-" She broke off and clapped a hand over her mouth, looking nauseated.

Elle was too intrigued by Bella's story to pay any mind to her discomfort. The brunette had just given a perfect description of a force field; the question was, how had she managed to create one? Her ability was supposed to be repelling telepathy and other mental powers. "Are you sure you caused that?"

"There wasn't anyone else nearby," Bella said shakily, "and I- I wasn't thinking straight, but I'm pretty sure I _wanted_ that to happen." She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Oh God, I'm horrible. I killed four people and I'm not even sorry! I feel almost happy about it."

"Good for you."

Bella dropped her hands into her lap and gaped. "How can you say that!"

"Killing those creeps was a public service."

"It wasn't my place to deal with them though. That's what the police are for."

"The police are idiots."

This statement had a profound effect on Bella; her tears disappeared as she stiffened and glared at Elle. "My father is a police officer," she said coldly.

"Oops." Elle slid off the bed and retreated quickly toward the door. "Well, it's been real. I'll leave you to your moping now. Ciao." Keeping one eye on Bella, she tried the door handle - which of course was rigged not to open from the inside. "Hey, you can let me out now." The door was opened, but not by her partner; only Edward was waiting outside for her. "Where's Bennet?"

"Restroom," Edward lied. Noah had left right after being interrogated about Elle's past, and he hadn't come back. Edward suspected the man was avoiding him.

"He just left while I was locked in a cell? How'd he expect me to get out?"

"He gave me the code to open the door."

"Well, I guess there's no danger of you running off for a bathroom break."

As he and Elle left the isolation ward, Edward admitted to having eavesdropped on her conversation with Bella. "I couldn't pass up the opportunity to observe you at work; I was also curious about the effect recent events may have had on Bella's mental shield. Her mind is still protected, if you were wondering."

"That's not all that's protected - she's added force fields to her repertoire. Why don't you put your genius intellect to good use and figure out how she made that leap?"

"Actually, I already have a theory."

"Of course you do. Aren't you worried about making me feel dumb?"

"You're not that insecure."

That was true; Elle knew she wasn't as smart as Edward, but it didn't bother her because she also knew he'd had a lot longer to learn stuff and a lot more storage space in his brain, and in spite of all that she still had him wrapped around her little finger. "So tell me your theory."

"I think she developed a new ability to shield herself from physical harm the way she's always shielded herself mentally. That's evolution in action - in order for a new mutation to be successful, its carriers have to survive."

"Wow. I wouldn't have pegged Bella Swan as the pinnacle of evolution."

"I wouldn't go that far, but she did survive a situation that would have been fatal to someone without her talents. Even more impressive is the fact that she acted on pure instinct. Can you imagine what she might be capable of once she learns to control it?"

"Yeah, the Company might even decide to keep her - train her as an agent."

Elle paused by a vending machine with the intention of purchasing a grape soda. Just as she pushed the button indicating her choice of drink, Edward grabbed her arm and turned her toward him. "You can't let that happen."

"That's not my call. Besides, you really want to release her into the wild?"

"Her father would be devastated if he lost her, and I doubt she would last long in a job like yours. She isn't as strong as you are."

"No kidding. So I should put my ass on the line for her because she can't take care of herself?"

"I'd rather you didn't, but if there's any way you can ensure her release without endangering yourself, I would be grateful."

"I'll see what I can do." Elle turned back to the machine and saw that it had failed to produce her soda. "Hey, this stupid thing ate my quarters!"

Edward smacked it, causing it to dump out twelve cans of soda which overflowed from the delivery slot, hit the floor, and rolled in every direction.

"Thanks, but I only wanted one."

"I must have miscalculated the force required to make this contraption dispense a single can."

Elle snorted as she watched him chase down the scattered sodas. "I take back what I said earlier - you never have to worry about making me feel dumb."

###

She was called back the next day - the Company's scientists wanted to perform tests on Bella, and they wanted Elle there to help because she had 'developed a rapport' with the other girl. Elle wasn't sure how much of a rapport they actually had, but they said she was the only one who'd managed not to send Bella into a complete tailspin…like the one she seemed on the verge of having when Elle tried to take her to a lab.

"I don't want to do this! Please don't make me!"

"Calm down! It's just a couple tests for…uh, research purposes. Then you can go home."

"I don't want strangers poking at me," Bella whined. "What do they want from me anyway?"

Elle looked up and down the hall, checking that they were truly alone. "Remember what you told me you did the night you were…hurt? They're gonna try to make you do it again."

"But I don't know how!"

"Good, because you need to pretend you can't. If they think they can train you to do it on command they'll want to keep you here for more experiments."

"And if not, they'll let me go?" Bella asked hopefully.

"That's the idea. They'll try really hard to make you show them what you can do first, though-"

"Will they hurt me?"

"I don't think so, but they might give you adrenaline to put you in a heightened emotional state. You just have to stay in control no matter what they do, all right?"

"Will they…touch me? I don't like touching. Especially men." She shuddered.

"If there's any touching involved, I'll ask them to let me do it. Would that be okay since I'm not a guy? Whatever happens, I won't let them hurt you." _If anyone's gonna hurt you, it'll be me._ Before meeting Bella, Elle had thought Edward was high-maintenance and clingy, but he was a piece of cake compared to her, with her constant need for reassurance and timid demeanor that practically screamed 'victimize me!'.

She smiled hesitantly, oblivious to Elle's unkind thoughts about her. "I guess that won't be so bad. Thank you, Elle. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Well I won't always be around, so you're gonna have to figure that out. For now let's just get you to the lab, 'kay?"

Bella nodded and followed Elle as docilely as a lamb being led to the slaughter.

**Next chapter: Bella's part in this story wraps up, and so does Elle's vacation in Forks. What will Edward do when she has to go back to New York?**


	35. Crossroads

Chapter 35: Crossroads

Hours later, Elle returned an emotionally wrecked and exhausted Bella to lockup. The girl had been subjected to every scientific examination imaginable, and while she hadn't been harmed, she had definitely been scared out of her wits. She had not, however, displayed her ability even under extreme stress, much to Elle's surprise; she hadn't thought Bella would be strong enough to withstand Company testing. Elle still didn't like her, but she almost respected her.

Bella was just glad the testing was over. It could have been worse - all the people who'd stared at her like she was a rat running a maze could have insisted on touching her as well - but she'd been given so many injections that her arms were bruised, and she had a splitting headache, probably from whatever was in the needles that had been stuck in her. Over a dozen telepaths trying to break into her mind hadn't helped either, but she knew nothing about them. All she wanted was to lie down and be left alone for a while - a _long_ while - but before she allowed herself that luxury she had to ask, "Will I have to go through that again?"

"I don't think so. I think they already did everything they could think of."

That gave Bella a small measure of relief. "What happens to me now?"

"If you're lucky they decide there's no point in keeping you and let you go. They probably won't make any decisions till tomorrow though. You should get some sleep. You look like hell."

"Um…thanks?" Elle shrugged and started to leave, but Bella's next words stopped her. "Seriously though - thank you."

Elle turned around. She'd expected Bella to immediately collapse on her bed, but she was still standing there, close enough for Elle to get a good look at her face. Her expression was one of sincere gratitude - again, not what Elle expected. "For what?"

"Being there. I don't know what I would have done without you."

"No problem. I was just doing a favor for a friend of your dad's."

"Charlie." Sadness seemed to fall on Bella like a ton of bricks, weighing her down. "Assuming I'm released soon, how am I supposed to go home to him? He's the most normal, down-to-earth guy in the world, and I'm a freak…and a killer. What if he doesn't want me around anymore?"

"I can't help you there," Elle said flatly. "Things aren't exactly great between me and my dad either."

"I'm sorry."

"I've learned to live with it. And hey-" Elle forced herself to sound chipper "-your dad probably won't be a jerk like mine."

A hesitant smile appeared on Bella's lips. "Thanks, Elle." She took a half step forward, then another, and before Elle realized what she was up to, Bella Swan was hugging her.

Except for Edward, no one had hugged Elle in a very long time. Unlike Edward, Bella was soft and warm, and she clung like a koala to a eucalyptus tree. Elle pushed her away almost immediately. "What happened to the 'no touching' rule!"

"S-sorry, I just- You've been so nice to me that I just forgot." Bella looked mortified and a little shocked at herself.

"Okay." Elle took a deep breath and tried to stop freaking out. It was only a hug; normal people did it all the time. _But with family, and people you're dating, and friends, right? Oh crap, does this mean Bella and I are friends?_

"I'm sorry," Bella timidly repeated.

Elle tried to smile, but her mouth didn't quite cooperate; the result was a lopsided grimace. "No problem - I hear friends hug each other all the time. Just don't do it again, okay…buddy?"

"Absolutely not."

"Great." Elle fled, hoping that just once Edward had found something better to do than eavesdrop on her, but of course her hopes were in vain. Worse, the last part of her exchange with Bella seemed to have struck a chord with his warped sense of humor - he wasn't laughing hysterically, but Elle sensed that he wanted to. "Shut up."

"I didn't say anything."

"But I know what you're thinking. It's not funny, Edward! I don't even like her!"

"You don't have to. In most cultures a simple hug doesn't obligate you to be the giver's lifelong friend."

"Oh. Well, that's good. It's still so weird, though - I've never had anybody latch onto me like that."

"You don't usually invite emotional attachments," Edward agreed.

Elle stopped so suddenly that her boots screeched on the squeaky clean floor. "Usually? Are you saying I _asked_ for Bella to get all clingy with me?"

"You're probably the first person she's felt safe with since Noah Bennet took her from the hospital-"

"Then she's nuts." Elle started walking again, faster now. Edward easily kept up but let her stay in the lead, content to follow her so long as she didn't get too far ahead.

"-And she admires you. In fact, I'd be willing to bet you're her new role model."

That disturbed Elle. She wasn't anyone's role model. There was no doubt that Bella needed to grow a backbone, but she should _not_ try to be like her.

"At least she has good taste."

Her boyfriend, Elle was annoyed to see, found this whole thing - or maybe just her horrified reaction - highly amusing. "You're as crazy as she is." She punched the button to call an elevator with unnecessary force, unleashing a little misplaced aggression on the inanimate object.

The elevator arrived without delay, and Edward took her arm as if to help her inside. "We've already established that, but insane or not, I can see why Bella admires you. You are one of the best people I've ever had the privilege of meeting." Most people wouldn't think so; they thought Elle was psychotic and sadistic and prickly, and they were right. She was all of those things. Still, after hearing how she had been experimented on as a child - how damaged she was - Edward thought it was amazing that she still had any shred of good left in her.

She, of course, had no idea what he was talking about, but wherever those words had come from, she could tell he meant them. She also noticed that he hadn't taken his hand off her, though he wasn't taking advantage of the privacy the elevator afforded them for more intimate touching. _Probably doesn't want to risk me causing a power outage. We could be stuck here for hours._

"If the elevator broke down, I could get us out. Though I wouldn't object to being trapped with you," he added with a mischievous smile.

No technical malfunctions occurred, however, and they reached the ground floor without incident. Noah Bennet was waiting when they left the elevator. "Elle, I was just on my way up to look for you. I spoke to your father, and he wants you to call him right away. There's an empty conference room down the hall you can use if you'd like to talk to him in private." He looked past her and gave a curt nod. "Edward."

"Noah."

_Since when are they on first-name terms?_ She put that out of her mind; whatever was going on between Edward and Noah, whatever her father wanted took precedence. She went into the conference room alone, leaving Edward in a lobby that looked exactly how you would expect the common area of an office building belonging to a paper company to look. Noah's advice to call Bob in private meant that he probably did not want to congratulate her on her work with Bella, and she didn't want Edward to hear her getting reprimanded.

Edward didn't protest; he had no desire to hear anything Bob Bishop had to say. He took a seat at the far end of the lobby and perused the newspaper while he waited for Elle. When he finished with it, he moved on to last month's _Time_ magazine, then _Newsweek_ and an old _National Geographic_.

Elle reappeared almost an hour later. Although she had obviously tried hard to make her face blank, there was a slight tightness in her mouth that Edward took to mean the conversation hadn't gone well. He put his magazine down and rushed to meet her at the front doors, noticing when he got closer that her eyes were moist and slightly red, and her eyeliner had been touched up. Had Bob made her cry? "Are you all right? What did he want?"

"I don't want to talk about it right now."

She didn't seem to want to talk about anything else either; she didn't utter another complete sentence until they were back at the Cullens' house, when she got out of the car and said, "I need some time to think without you listening, so I'm gonna go for a walk, and I don't want you to follow me."

"Where will you be walking?"

"Out there." She gestured vaguely at the forest.

Edward was puzzled, and somewhat concerned. "But you hate the woods, and it's getting dark."

"I won't go far."

"Wouldn't you rather stay in the house? I can leave if you'd like."

"No thanks. I'll be fine."

That was true enough - wild animals recognized vampires as predators superior to themselves and tended to keep out of their territory. In the unlikely event that Elle encountered one, she could handle it. If she got lost, Edward would be able to track her scent. He let her go and went inside, resolved to track her down if she wasn't back in an hour. Whatever was on her mind, she couldn't possibly want to spend any greater length of time in the forest.

###

She walked quickly and purposefully until the house was out of sight, then slowed down, enjoying the first truly solitary moment she'd had since returning to Forks. Edward's family, especially Esme, had worked hard to make her feel welcome, but for a girl who hadn't had any kind of family life in years, their efforts were a bit overwhelming. Of course Edward himself never left her alone if he could help it, although he didn't make her feel smothered the way Esme did with all her maternal behavior; it was as if, since she found out that Elle's mother was dead, she'd been trying to fill that hole in Elle's life. Elle supposed that was nice of her, but the fact was that she had gotten over losing her mother a long time ago and wasn't sure she wanted a new one…or another father figure, or siblings, or a mansion surrounded by gorgeous woodland scenery but far from anything else, or any of the other things that came with Edward. Yet she still wanted _him_.

The problem was that Edward didn't fit in with her life as an agent. So far she'd managed to juggle the two; her conversation with Bob had shown her that she couldn't keep up the balancing act much longer, though. Sooner or later - sooner in her case - something had to give.

Out of the corner of her eye, Elle caught a flash of motion - something with skin so white it almost glowed in the late evening light was following her. "Edward, I thought I told you to-"

"He's in the house, giving you your space as you requested."

"Jasper?"

The tall blond vampire dropped out of a tree directly in front of her. "Evening, Elle."

"What do you want?"

"We just want to talk to you."

Elle spun around and saw Alice approaching from her right. "This is starting to feel like an ambush. I hope you're not planning to kidnap me again."

"Absolutely not," Jasper assured her. "We really do just want to talk."

"What do we have to talk about?"

"Alice had a vision of you going back to New York."

"Yeah, my dad decided it's time for me to go home, not that it's any of your business."

"Actually, it is," Alice said sharply. "You see, my vision didn't tell me how Edward will take this, meaning he isn't aware of your plans. I hope you don't intend to just disappear without a word to him."

"Of course I don't; I just haven't figured out how to tell him yet. He won't want me to go."

"Is that what has your emotions all tied up in knots?" Jasper asked. "I don't think you need to worry so much about his reaction." Not that Elle leaving him again would please Edward - Jasper knew for a fact it would not - but he wasn't likely to get angry with her over it.

"I've just got a lot on my mind," she said tersely. "That's why I came out here. I wanted to think stuff through without a bunch of nosy vampires breathing down my neck, but that obviously didn't work out." She started to storm off.

"Elle!"

She spun around, glaring. "What!"

Alice pointed in the opposite direction from the one Elle was heading in. "The house is that way."

###

Once safely inside, Elle rebuffed Esme's offer of dinner and went straight upstairs, claiming she just wanted to go to bed. There was only one problem with that plan: Edward was sitting on her bed.

"You're not gonna get up and let me turn down the covers, are you? At least move over so I can have a whole side of the mattress."

"After you tell me what's wrong. First you need time alone, now you have no appetite; I need to know what your father said to upset you so deeply."

Elle sighed. "He's mad at me. Bennet convinced him my main reason for being here was to bag and tag Bella, but he guessed I wouldn't pass up the chance to see you." She dropped onto the bed. "He wants me back home."

"So you're going."

"He'll kick me out if I don't. He wants me to choose between you and my job, and I don't know what to do! I want you, but I've been an agent my entire life. That's all I know how to be. It's not like I can just have you anyway."

Edward suddenly moved into a crouch in front of her, fixing her with an intense, smoldering gaze. "You already have me. I'm yours."

"What about all the stuff that comes with you - the family, the lifestyle? That's not what I signed up for."

"Are you unhappy here?" Getting the words out was hard, and he realized that at some point he'd stopped breathing. He thought he had been doing a good job of keeping her happy, but had he really? Was there something he'd overlooked, something she needed or desired that he'd neglected to give her?

"Forks isn't a great place for me with all the water. Anyway, I don't want to give up everything else in my life and just be some trophy wife like my mom. That's one of the things she and Daddy used to fight about. But I don't want to give you up either." She looked thoroughly miserable.

Edward couldn't bear to see her that way. "Then we'll go to New York. Wherever you go, whatever you do, I will be with you. I won't make you choose."

Elle was perplexed. "You said before that you wouldn't like living so close to New York City-"

"Elle, any inconvenience posed by the sun and the scarcity of prey pales in comparison to what I felt when we were apart. Our separation was only bearable because I could still hear your voice, although phone calls and Skype were hardly an adequate substitute for having you in my arms. For the most part, being without you felt like having my heart torn out, except that my heart is no longer essential to my survival. You are."

Out of habit, she shied away from the heartfelt profession of his undying love even though it didn't freak her out nearly as much as it used to. "Even if you move to Hartsdale, seeing each other won't be easy. I'll still have to work, and I can't always be going out or people will start to ask questions. Daddy will be there too. Maybe you should just stay here - even if we're in the same place, we're still living totally different lives."

"No, we aren't." He reached out to caress her face, then wrapped his hand around the back of her neck to pull her closer. Just before their lips met, he paused long enough to say, "You are my life now."

**So I didn't get Elle out of Forks after all. I swear I'm gonna do that next chapter though. At least now we know she and Edward will be sticking together. We'll also be saying goodbye to Bella in the next chapter, but someone else will take her place. I'll give virtual cookies to anyone who can guess who that might be.**


	36. Home

Chapter 36: Home

_Primatech Seattle facility - next day_

"You know what to do, right?"

"Sure I do." Elle had seen plenty of subjects tagged before Primatech released them, though she had never performed the procedure herself. Today she was going to do it for the first time, because it was unlikely anyone else would be able to tag Bella. "Jab in the neck, push the plunger, pull it out." _Hope Bella doesn't turn me into a pancake._

Noah placed the double-pronged needle in her hand. "You'll do great. Once you've tagged her, we'll take her home."

"I can do it," Edward unexpectedly offered. "That will save you the inconvenience of driving all the way to Forks."

"It's not our policy to release a subject to a non-agent-"

"Elle will go with me. If you let us take Bella you can get an earlier flight home. I know you're eager to see your family again."

Noah frowned. "That's very kind of you…"

"Just let us take the girl, Bennet," Elle said impatiently. "Edward's just trying to be nice. He doesn't always have a hidden agenda - he's not like you."

"All right, all right. I'll leave you to it." Noah walked away.

Elle ushered Edward into the isolation ward, where she could be almost certain no one would overhear them - all the windowless, soundproofed cells except Bella's were unoccupied and the staff didn't go near her except to put food in her cell at mealtimes, so for now the ward truly was isolated. "Okay, Edward, what are you up to? I don't believe for a second that you'd go so far out of your way just to do something nice for Bennet even if the two of you are being almost civil to each other now. What's up with that anyway? I thought you hated him."

"My first impression of Noah Bennet wasn't very favorable - I thought he was being careless with your safety. I do not, however, hate him. I only wanted to get rid of him because if he stayed, I imagine he would object to our releasing Bella without tagging her."

"Did I hear right? You want me not to tag Bella?" Elle asked incredulously.

"I believe that was implied," Edward said dryly.

Elle took an involuntary step back, shaking her head in denial. "No. No way. You have no idea what you're asking me to do."

"Yes, I do. Bella is probably already scarred for life by everything that has happened to her; whatever chance she has at recovery will be ruined if the Company tracks her down and experiments on her again. I'm asking you to do the right thing."

"For who? Do you have any idea what'll happen to me if I break our number one rule? What my dad will do?"

"I won't let him do anything to you."

Far from being reassured, Elle only grew more agitated. "If you're so worried about protecting me, why ask me to take the risk in the first place? Up till now you've done your best to keep me out of any situation that even _looks_ like it might be dangerous! What is it about Bella Swan that makes you always want to come to her rescue?"

It was mostly because they were both victims of Primatech, but Elle wouldn't let him save her, didn't even think she needed saving, so he had to settle for helping Bella. He couldn't tell Elle that - Edward doubted she would appreciate him drawing parallels between her and Bella, especially not when he was projecting his feelings for her onto the other girl. Instead, he gave her a less important but still compelling reason. "Because I know what it's like to be put in a cage and treated like an animal! It's given me a certain sympathy for her, though at least Bella wasn't locked up by someone she loves."

"You know I'm sorry about that, don't you?" There was a slight tremor in her voice, like the vibration in a wire stretched to its breaking point.

"I know, so please don't think I'm angry with you, Elle. I could never be angry with you. I'm just asking you to try to see this my way."

"And to let Bella go untagged."

"Yes."

Elle chewed the inside of her cheek as she seriously considered Edward's request. Carrying it out wouldn't be impossible or even particularly difficult; Noah had already filed the paperwork for Bella's release. All they had to do was walk her out the door and into Edward's car without anyone noticing her unmarked neck. _We could pull it off pretty easily, and it's really important to Edward. Am I really gonna do this just because that stupid vampire asked me to?_ She glared at him. "You'll owe me big for this. I never did anything this crazy before I met you."

Edward grinned. "I could say the same about you."

###

"Time to get up."

Bella, who was huddled close to the wall on her bed like she was trying to melt into the sheetrock, slowly uncurled herself. "Are we going somewhere?"

"You're going home." Elle picked up Bella's boring white tennis shoes and threw them at her. "Catch."

Bella yelped and raised her right arm to shield her face instead. The shoes sailed toward her in an arc that would bring them down right on her head, but just as they began the downward curve of their trajectory they slammed to a stop in midair and dropped straight down, landing on the bed a foot away from Bella.

Elle was miffed; not only had she been denied the entertainment of watching Bella get hit in the head, this was the second time she'd caught herself feeling a grudging admiration for the whiny little wimp. "Nice save."

Bella hesitantly lowered her arm. "Did I do that?"

"Force fields aren't my thing."

"I don't want them to be my thing either! I don't want to be like this! How do I make it stop?"

"You can't make it stop. All you can do is learn to control it."

"I don't want to learn to control anything," Bella said sulkily. "I just want things to go back to the way they were."

"Well, they can't. Once your powers manifest there's no going back, so you better deal with it or you'll end up in deeper shit than you can handle."

Bella's eyes expanded to the size of saucers; no one had ever spoken to her that way before. "Sounds like you're speaking from experience." Eyes still trained on Elle, she groped for her shoes and tried unsuccessfully to put one on.

"I don't think your right shoe goes on your left foot," Elle told her.

She quickly switched the shoe to the correct foot and fastened its Velcro straps (Primatech inmates weren't allowed to have shoelaces in case they turned suicidal and used them to strangle themselves). "So what's your thing?"

Elle raised her eyebrows. "My 'thing'?"

"You have one, right? No offense, but I don't think you got this job because of your scientific expertise…or your bedside manner."

Elle blinked disbelievingly at Bella's critique of her people skills. Had Spineless Swan just grown a vertebra or two?

Bella took her incredulous expression to mean something entirely different. "I'm sorry - is it impolite to ask about another person's…thing?"

"We don't have any hard and fast rules about that stuff. Besides, you showed me yours so I guess I should show you mine."

Bella was gratifyingly awed by the sight of Elle holding lightning in the palm of her hand. "Unbelievable," she whispered. "How do you control it?"

Elle shrugged. "Mind over matter, I guess. Your ability seems to activate when you're scared, so I think you need to get control of your fear first. Then you'll have control of your power. Just don't practice anywhere you might expose yourself to normal people…or squish them. If you do that, my bosses will have you locked up again for good, and the next agent your case gets handed off to probably won't be as nice as me."

"Imagine that," Bella said sarcastically.

"Hey, I've been _very_ nice to you. I haven't electrocuted you even once, and I'm not gonna stick this-" She took the injector Noah had given her out of her pocket and showed it to Bella, who shrank away from it with a look of near-terror "-in your neck."

"Thank you. I don't like needles."

"It's not the needle you should worry about, it's the isotope inside. It has a radiation signature that lets us track you. Since I'm letting you go without it, you'll have a chance to drop off the Company's radar completely. Don't screw it up. And pull your hair over your shoulders - we can't let anyone see that I haven't tagged you."

While Bella rearranged her hair to cover her neck, Elle emptied her syringe into the toilet, flushed the tracking isotope, and disposed of the used needle in a medical waste container to avoid arousing suspicion. No one gave her a second glance as she escorted Bella out of the facility.

"How will I get home? Should I take a bus, or-?"

Elle pushed open the door leading from the building into the adjacent parking garage. "Nope, we're catching a ride with a friend."

Bella's jaw dropped when she saw who said friend was. "Edward Cullen?"

"Hello, Bella."

"You- What are you doing here? How do you know about this place?"

"I ought to know about my girlfriend's workplace, don't you think?"

"Your girlfriend?" Bella's bewildered stare moved from Edward to Elle as she put two and two together. "_You_? But how? You're…whatever you are, and he's in my biology class!"

"He's also a telepath."

Bella took another look at Edward, struggling to reconcile what Elle had just told her with her previous perception of him. He was her lab partner, the best-looking guy in school, an outsider like her…who read minds and dated a human generator. "Oh. Well, it all makes perfect sense now. I think I need to sit down."

Edward reached out to help her as her knees buckled, which had a revitalizing effect on the brunette. She jerked away from his outstretched hand, stumbled, fell, and instinctively resorted to other means of putting distance between them. Her force field hit Edward like an out-of-control eighteen-wheeler, except a truck couldn't have budged a vampire one inch. Bella moved him a great deal more than an inch.

_He was wrong,_ Elle thought as she observed the collision. _Vampires_ can_ fly._ She wondered if she should go check on him, but he was already getting up from where he'd landed and appeared unhurt, though the impact had cracked the concrete.

"Don't worry about me," he called over to her. "Bella needs your help more than I do."

So Elle shifted her attention to Bella, who was crouched next to the nearest car and hyperventilating. "Okay, that was the kind of accident I said you need to be careful _not_ to have."

"I'm sorry! Did I- Did I hurt him? I'm so sorry!"

"Don't worry about Edward - he'll be fine. He's tough."

"I must've thrown him twenty feet! Nobody's _that_ tough, Elle!"

"Edward is."

The vampire approached them slowly, making sure not to come too close. "Bella, I promise you have not hurt me in any way. I apologize for giving you a fright; I only wanted to help, but I should have realized how you would react."

Bella's panic gradually subsided, replaced by relief that she hadn't killed Elle's boyfriend and shame at Edward knowing why she didn't want him to touch her. All of Forks probably knew by now. How would they treat her? How would she cope with the labels, the whispers, the pity, the sidelong glances?

Elle's hand on her shoulder jarred her out of the downward spiral she was slipping into. Her fear returned for a heart-stopping moment, but she pushed it down. Elle had nothing in common with those men, and she couldn't hurt Bella the way they had - she was a girl. She was safe.

"Are you done freaking out?" Elle demanded.

"I…I think so."

"Good. Now you can get in the car."

Bella wasn't sure how she felt about being told to get into a confined space with Edward, but it wasn't as bad as she feared; she had the whole backseat to herself, and he barely spoke, so it was easy to ignore his presence. In fact, when they reached Forks she found that she was almost more afraid of facing her father. Had he heard what she'd done? Did he know what she was?

"You're his daughter."

She jumped. Edward was peering around the back of his seat at her, having made an educated guess - which as it turned out was dead accurate - as to what was on her mind. "He loves you, and nothing can change that. Still, for his peace of mind, I would advise you to keep your talent to yourself."

"No problem - I don't want to end up in a straitjacket. And I'll work on my control so I don't have any more 'outbursts' like in the parking garage." She looked over at Elle. "Maybe you could help me…learn what to do?" she asked hesitantly but hopefully.

"Do I look like mentor material?" Elle scoffed. "Even if I wanted to be, I'm flying back to New York tonight."

"Do you have to?"

"It's where I live, Bella."

Just when she thought she'd rid herself of her unwanted little friend, Edward spoke up. "I'll be accompanying her, so if you should need to speak with Elle you can reach her through me."

"Thanks." Bella exchanged phone numbers with him, then got out of the car and slowly made her way up her driveway. Charlie met her halfway to the house and pulled her into a rib-crushing hug. After embracing for almost a whole minute, the Swans continued into their house with their arms around each other. Bella turned back just once to flash a big smile at Elle and Edward before the door closed behind her and her father.

Elle smiled back and waved at her; then, as soon as Bella closed the door, she turned a fierce scowl on Edward. "Why did you tell her how to get hold of us in New York? I thought I was rid of her!"

She was incensed to see Edward wearing a huge grin. "You know I love you just the way you are, but it wouldn't hurt you to be a little more tolerant of others." His grin widened. "Bella Swan is an excellent teaching aid."

"You're right about that," Elle grumbled. "If I can learn to put up with her I'll have tolerance coming out my ears."

###

They took a ten PM flight to JFK International Airport in New York, arrived early the next morning, then parted company. Elle took a taxi home to Hartsdale, while Edward went to his new residence: a brownstone in Manhattan. It was far enough from the Hartsdale facility that with any luck him relocating to be closer to Elle would escape Bob's notice, but near enough that visiting him wasn't too inconvenient for her. The commute from Hartsdale to Manhattan was certainly less trouble than traveling to Washington, which in Edward's opinion made her absence rather strange. Four days had passed since their arrival, and in all that time he hadn't seen a trace of Elle, or received so much as a phone call.

On the fifth day, when his patience had almost completely given way to worry that something had happened to her, she showed up on his doorstep. "I know midnight's a little late for social calls, but I figured it's the perfect time to drop in on a vampire," she said unapologetically.

He held the door open for her. "By all means, come in."

"I would've come by sooner except Daddy had a new assignment waiting for me when I came home. I've been doing surveillance on the worst loser in history for the last week," she told him as she meandered into the living room from the foyer. The television immediately drew her attention. "You're seriously watching Anderson Cooper?" She grabbed the remote and flipped to the SyFy channel. "Ooh, _Mega Shark Vs. Giant Octopus_ is on."

Edward quickly took the remote back and turned off the TV - although he would endure almost anything for Elle's sake, he had to draw a line somewhere. Sitting through ninety minutes of a ridiculously schlocky science-fiction movie was definitely over that line. "Why don't you tell me about your latest assignment?"

Elle rolled her eyes; after spending the past five days observing this guy, she wasn't eager to spend even more time discussing him. She wasn't even going to write about him - aside from the fact that she and Noah hadn't learned much yet, Thompson snooping in the journal she'd kept while investigating the Cullens had shown her the error of leaving written records lying around. "Ugly Sweater Man? Like I said, he's a loser. He lives in Queens, repairs clocks for a living, and he wears these totally hideous cardigans. Alice would have a great time improving his wardrobe if she could stand to look at it long enough."

"Does Ugly Sweater Man have a name?"

"Yeah. His name is Gabriel Gray."

**We're now moving into the final part of the story - I can say with a reasonable degree of certainty that there are less than ten chapters to go.**

**Next up: Gabriel becomes Sylar, and the mission has some life-changing consequences for Elle.**


	37. Gray

**I must've jinxed myself by saying this story would be finished soon, because as soon as I said it I was immediately slammed with writer's block. And it only applied to this story; I could write other stuff, but not this. I swear, the universe wants me to never get anything done. Nevertheless, I persisted and finally prevailed.**

**Warning: Some of you who've read my other works may remember my fondness for blood and guts, and that tendency rears its gory head toward the end of this chapter. Apparently I can't write a whole story without inflicting gruesome injuries on a lead character at some point. Also, cliffhanger.**

Chapter 37: Gray

"And why is Gabriel Gray under surveillance?"

"Oh, he killed some guy and stole his powers. People who can do that are really rare, so we want to study him. I just wish I wasn't the one who has to go undercover as his friend-slash-confidante. The guy has serious issues with self-loathing over what he is - he's as bad as you on that front, but at least you're still moderately cool even if you do have this stupid hang-up about thinking of yourself as a monster sometimes."

"Thanks," Edward said wryly.

"The first time I met Gabriel, he tried to hang himself in his clock shop; I walked in just in time to zap the rope and save him. You'd never do anything like that, would you?" She felt foolish for asking - hanging wouldn't kill a vampire. In fact, Elle wasn't aware of any methods by which a suicidal vampire might off himself; still, she knew Edward was resourceful enough to find one if he wanted to. She didn't think he wanted to, but his mindset about being a 'monster' was just a little too close to Gabriel Gray's for comfort.

"Elle, I assure you I have never had the slightest interest in suicide. I've learned to live with what I am, if not to be happy with it. It might have been a very different story if Carlisle and Esme hadn't accepted me back into the family after I deviated from our diet, but fortunately they did. Besides, this existence isn't all bad - if Carlisle hadn't changed me, I never would have met you." Of course, if anything happened to Elle he would have to die with her; no vampire ever fully recovered from losing their mate, and their chances of living a happy or even somewhat contented life after such a loss were practically nonexistent.

"Guess I better not die then," was Elle's response when he shared that piece of information with her.

"You had better not," he agreed, "which is why I'm concerned about your proximity to Mr. Gray. You said he killed a man."

"And he felt so bad about it he tried to kill himself. I don't think he'll do it again." Which was unfortunate for her, because her mission wouldn't be over until she and Noah documented him in the act. She could imagine what Edward would say about that.

Edward, however, didn't plan on saying another word about her new case; she hadn't come to be lectured, and while he'd intervened in her dealings with Bella, he couldn't play the role of her conscience forever. Instead he asked, "Can you stay here tonight?"

"Yeah, that was the plan. Sneaking back into the facility at this hour would be hard. I could do it," she quickly added, "but I'd rather not." She stifled a yawn. Being on the go all day and then catching a cab from Hartsdale to Manhattan at the time she'd usually be going to bed really wore a girl out.

"You're tired," Edward observed. "One of the upstairs rooms is ready for you if you'd like to use it."

Elle yawned again and sank deeper into the couch. "Here's good. I don't wanna get up."

"You don't have to."

The leather cushions fell away as Edward lifted her and carried her upstairs. "You didn't need to do that," Elle grumbled. "I would've gotten up in a minute. Put me down."

"As you wish." Edward unceremoniously dumped her on her bed.

She toed off her shoes and stretched out, arching her back like a cat and moaning as she flexed muscles that had cramped over hours of sitting in a van with Noah, then in a cab. "Aren't you gonna join me?"

"Would you like me to?"

"Sure. Believe it or not, I've actually missed the feeling of sleeping next to an ice statue since I got back home."

Which of course was her way of saying she had missed _him_, so Edward ignored the inner voice of reason telling him that increased proximity and physical contact with Elle was the last thing he needed at the moment and lay down beside her, trying to forget the provocative sight of her working the kinks out of her muscles.

Elle immediately glued herself to his side and leaned in for a kiss. He turned his head away but that didn't deter her; she just kissed his neck instead.

"I thought you wanted to sleep?"

The question, or rather the tone in which it was asked, stopped Elle cold. Edward's voice sounded much as it had when they'd investigated the scene of Bella's assault: like he was under severe stress. It was not exactly the reaction Elle had hoped for. "What's wrong?"

"You are pushing my self-control to its limits," Edward sighed.

"Is that such a bad thing? We're finally alone - no Company bosses breathing down my neck or vampire siblings with inconveniently sharp hearing downstairs. We could do anything we want."

"Not the thing you're thinking of."

Elle pulled away, her expression darkening. "Why not? Practically everyone our age does it, at least if you believe all the stuff on TV. So why don't you want to? Wait a minute… Do vampires not have sex?"

"We do-" Thanks to Emmett's and Rosalie's frequent honeymoons and his accursed telepathy, Edward was unfortunately well-versed on the mating habits of his kind "-just not with humans."

Elle's pensive frown turned into a rather foreboding scowl. "What's wrong with humans?"

"Nothing," Edward said quickly. "It's just that you are so very fragile-"

"Fragile? Did you seriously just call me fragile?" A spark leapt off her finger, singeing the quilt.

"It isn't a personal reflection on you, Elle - I know you're strong, and smart, and brave, but you are also human, and human bodies are breakable. And I'm afraid I would break you. All it would take is one second's carelessness, and the one thing in this world I cannot live without could be damaged beyond repair. How do you think I would feel then?"

Elle flopped onto her back with a loud sigh of frustration. She had witnessed some very impressive demonstrations of vampires' supernatural strength, and her desire to do what normal teenagers in love did wasn't strong enough to make her risk getting ripped limb from limb. "You just have to have some stupid reason I can't argue with, don't you?"

"Would you prefer a more trivial one?"

"Do you have one?" Edward's silence was all the answer Elle needed. "Of course you do."

"It's just that my view of this matter differs from contemporary attitudes. Society wasn't nearly as permissive in my day."

"Meaning?" Elle's eyes narrowed. "It wasn't one of those societies where you'd get stoned to death for having sex before you got married, was it?" If that was what Edward was getting at, he could forget it - they were _not_ going there. At sixteen, she didn't even think she legally could.

"Nothing so drastic as stoning; we had developed more sophisticated methods of execution by then."

"But you still executed people for…" Her voice trailed off when she saw his crooked grin and realized he was just messing with her. "You're a riot."

"Promiscuity was not a capital offense," he assured her, "but in my day most people believed love and lust should keep the same company."

"That isn't a problem for us - you've said you love me about a million times."

"I have. You haven't," Edward said somberly.

"Oh…" Elle seemed to deflate slightly as her breath left her in a sudden gush of air, like she'd been sucker-punched. "Well you know I don't do touchy-feely-mushy. I've stayed with you longer than I ever thought I would, I've risked getting in really hot water for you _twice_, I haven't even looked at another guy since we got together - I haven't even _wanted_ to - _and_ you can read my mind. I thought you knew how I feel about you."

"I do. Still, it would be nice to hear you say it."

"You want me to say I l-"

"Only if you want to. Only if you mean it."

After everything they'd been through together, it seemed to Elle that saying the words and meaning them should be easy, but her tongue disagreed with her brain and remained stubbornly frozen. Sure, she _thought_ she loved Edward…but was she sure? What did she really know about love anyway? Sometimes she wasn't even positive she loved her own father, or that he loved her, and if she could have doubts about the longest-standing relationship in her life, how could she hope to accurately judge what she felt for a guy she'd only known a few months? If she couldn't do that, she couldn't say she loved him, because he would know if her words weren't sincere, and he would never forgive her for lying to him again. Not about this.

Even if she was certain of the validity of her feelings, if she said the words now, wouldn't she just be doing it because Edward wanted her to? Was she really going to give him that kind of power over her?

His voice suddenly broke into her thoughts like a hot knife slicing through butter. "This isn't a demand, Elle, and I'm not looking for emotional leverage. You should know me better than that."

Of course she did; if any of the other men in her life asked about her feelings toward them she would have every reason to be suspicious, but she knew Edward wasn't like that. He was nowhere near as manipulative and controlling as the rest of them, and she shouldn't have thought such things about him for even a second. Now she felt guilty. "You're right. I'm sorry. Can we just forget this whole conversation ever happened?"

"I think that would be for the best."

Elle moved over to the other side of the bed and curled up on her side, facing away from him. She neither said nor thought anything that indicated she wanted him to leave, but Edward nevertheless got the feeling that cuddling up to her would be a mistake, so he stayed on his own side of the bed. At least, he reflected while listening to her troubled thoughts trailing off into silence as she fell asleep, he probably didn't have to worry about any future attempts at seduction. Now that she knew sex was out of the question unless she confessed her feelings for him and might result in her suffering severe bruising, broken bones, or worse, he thought they were unlikely to ever revisit the subject. He suspected that of those two constraints, the first was the stronger deterrent.

###

Sure enough, when Elle got up and went into the bathroom for a quick shower, she didn't invite him to join her, not even jokingly. She stayed for breakfast - Edward had thoughtfully stocked the kitchen with human food - then announced that she needed to get back to work.

"Back to Gabriel Gray?" Edward kept his tone and expression neutral, but Elle sensed his displeasure hiding beneath the veneer of polite interest.

"Yeah. Don't look at me like that, I have to. If you're still worried about him hurting me you can come along, if…if you want to." She faltered ever so slightly before adding those last words, which told her boyfriend that she hadn't put last night's debate from her mind as completely as she pretended. His discontent with her inability to admit the extent of her feelings had taken her by surprise and made her wonder if there were any more problems he had yet to bring up. She'd always thought he was happy with how things were between them, but maybe she was wrong. Had their relationship started to crumble without her noticing?

"I do," Edward said immediately. "I left behind everything else in my life to be closer to you, after all."

Elle's eyes narrowed as she darted a glance at his face. Was he trying to make her feel guilty?

"And I want you to know I have no regrets. It's worth it."

"So…you're not mad about last night? We're okay?"

"We are. Besides, it's too dangerous for you to go alone. Obviously I'd prefer you didn't go at all, but if I can't dissuade you from carrying out your assignment-"

"You can't."

"-Then the least I can do is be there in case you encounter trouble."

###

They drove to the building where Gabriel Gray lived in Edward's new car, a Jaguar with custom windows tinted to the greatest extent allowed by New York State law. Apparently buying a new car and having it specially modified was easier than moving either of the cars he already had to Manhattan. Elle thought her father might do something like that if he was a car guy. _Rich people -_ _I don't get them._

He parked across the street from Gabriel's apartment complex, behind the Primatech van in which Noah Bennet sat waiting for Elle. She pecked Edward on the cheek, then made to get out of the car. "See you in an hour or two."

He caught her arm as she unfastened her seatbelt. "Are you telling me to wait outside?"

"You shouldn't even be here. I can't take you into Gabriel's apartment with me."

"I won't be much help to you in this car."

"I don't need help. I only let you come for _your_ peace of mind."

"Fine, I'll stay here. Hurry back."

"Will do. Later, alligator." She got out, went over to the van and briefly conferred with Noah, then jogged across the street, weaving through oncoming traffic, ignoring the irate drivers who honked at her, and nearly causing the vampire watching her to have a nervous breakdown. He relaxed when she made it to the other side of the road without getting splattered all over it, only to tense up again when a young man wearing eyeliner, black nail polish, and a truly horrible outfit consisting of a long-sleeved gray-and-black-striped shirt and shapeless knee-length shorts approached her.

"There you are. I almost thought you weren't gonna make it."

Elle smiled winningly at the goth guy. "Here I am. The guy I want you to meet lives right in here."

Edward stopped blocking out the buzz of other people's thoughts in his head and focused on Elle's. He learned that the goth guy was called Trevor, and Noah had selected him to be Mr. Gray's next victim. Elle was going along with his plan, which disappointed Edward, but at least he'd only gained her cooperation by threatening to tell Bob if she made trouble. She didn't want Bob to get angry with her again, so Noah was now confident the plan would go off without a hitch.

_He didn't count on me being here, though. I can put a stop to this. The question is whether I should._ It would mean breaking the resolution he'd made just last night to quit trying to be Elle's conscience, but the idea of sitting back and letting her cause an innocent man's death was repugnant. _But she wouldn't appreciate me interfering with her work. It's really none of my business…_

Unless the work put her at risk. Based on her description of the murder Gabriel had already committed, he sounded like quite a lethal predator, not so very different from a vampire except that he was after his victim's ability, not their blood - and once their bloodlust was aroused, no vampire would stop at just one kill if there was more prey readily available. What if Gabriel turned on Elle after killing Trevor?

_She'll understand that I was too afraid of him hurting her to just sit here._ Having justified his meddling, Edward pulled up the hood on his jacket and put on a pair of gloves. It made him look like he was about to commit a robbery - or maybe it just made him look ridiculous - but it kept his skin covered from direct sunlight, allowing him to cross the street and enter the apartment building without exposing himself as a supernatural creature.

Once inside, he tracked Elle's scent to Gabriel Gray's door and burst in just as she had Trevor demonstrate his ability.

"Who's this? How many people did you invite into my apartment?" Gabriel demanded. He was annoyed; Trevor's presence had come as an unwelcome surprise, and he was even unhappier with the arrival of another unexpected guest.

"I didn't invite him. He's not supposed to be here," Elle growled, glaring at Edward.

He ignored her and told Trevor, "Get out of here. Run."

"Who are you?" Gabriel asked again. "Get out, or I'm calling the police."

"She wants you to kill this man." Edward pointed to Trevor. "She works for a company that researches the abilities of people like you, and she's trying to goad you into attacking him so they can observe how your power works. Can't you see that, you fool?"

"Is that true?" Gabriel asked Elle.

"Um…"

The clockmaker looked devastated. "I thought you wanted to help me - I thought you were my friend…"

"Okay, this isn't cool," Trevor muttered. "I'm outta here." He headed for the door, but Gabriel used his telekinesis to catch him and hurl him across the room.

"You're not going anywhere." The lock and deadbolt on his door clicked into place. "None of you are until I understand exactly what's going on here. Elle, who is this guy?"

"His name's Edward Cullen. He's my boyfriend."

This information stirred up Gabriel's temper even more; he had developed a bit of a crush on Elle since she saved his life.

"I'd advise you to forget those feelings unless you have a proclivity for underage girls." Edward cocked his head as he sorted through Gabriel's confused jumble of thoughts. "I'm afraid no judge will care that you thought she was older, but fortunately - or unfortunately, depending on how you look at it - the jail sentence handed down for statutory rape is paltry compared to what you would get for first-degree murder."

"Shut up! You lying little bitch," Gabriel snarled at Elle.

"Hey, it wasn't my idea. I was just following orders."

"You did all this just to make me kill again - I bet that's the only reason you even bothered to save me, isn't it?"

"I might've saved you on my own, but I was only in your shop because my bosses sent me there," Elle replied honestly.

"I see. Your company wants to observe me? Watch this." His telekinetic push hit her in the chest with crushing force, knocking her to the floor.

He directed his power at her a second time, but then Edward appeared beside him, struck him hard enough to break his arm, and punched him in the stomach. The blow drove the air out of him and would leave a nasty bruise, maybe even some internal bleeding, but Edward hadn't aimed for any vital organs or applied the force necessary to actually drive his fist through Gabriel's body and do irreparable damage; he had a somewhat better than fifty-fifty chance of surviving. For a split second Edward was tempted to finish the job and kill him; then he reminded himself that he'd come to prevent a murder, not commit one.

_And Elle may be hurt. I need to get her away from him._ She was still sprawled on the floor, stunned, or maybe she just hadn't had time to move yet - putting Gabriel down had taken Edward almost no time at all. He gathered her up and ran from Gabriel's apartment. The basement boiler room was nearby and empty of human traffic, so he shouldered the heavy door open after breaking the padlock securing it and ducked inside to examine her.

Elle blinked, her eyes struggling to adjust to the abrupt plunge into darkness. "Edward?"

"Yes, I'm here."

"My insides hurt."

He wasn't surprised; there was a dark stain spreading down the front of her blouse. It seemed Gabriel's telekinesis could be used for cutting as well as moving objects, and he must have injured her right before Edward got to him. He undid the bottom buttons of Elle's top and folded the floral-printed material aside, baring her lower torso to discover the extent of the damage, and froze in horror; Gabriel had cut her more severely than he'd imagined, leaving a diagonal slash that stretched from just under her left breast to the right side of her abdomen. Without the sticky, bloody cloth and the pressure of his grip holding it together, her dermis and the muscle beneath peeled open like the layers of an onion, revealing her guts and the stark whiteness of bone.

"It's bad, isn't it?" Elle asked. She could barely see Edward's face in the gloom, but she thought his expression was the same one he'd worn when she blew up James and inadvertently fractured her own spine. Her back wasn't broken this time, though; instead of feeling numb, she was all too aware of the pain - serious pain that told her something was very wrong. The fact that Edward held her down to keep her from seeing what had been done to her confirmed it.

"It's only a flesh wound. You'll be fine," he lied. Even if he called 911 this very second, she would bleed out long before help arrived. He estimated she had ten minutes at best, probably less. The nearest hospital was at least fifteen minutes away.

Elle knew he was lying, and he hadn't called an ambulance or tried to help her himself…which had to mean there was nothing he could do. _I must be dying._ Strangely, she wasn't as shocked or terrified as she'd expected to be when facing death. She'd always known the risks of her job and did her best to avoid them, but now that the worst had happened she accepted it as an inevitability that had been creeping up on her all her life. She just hadn't realized it until now.

Her one regret was that dying meant leaving Edward. What she'd had with him was the one thing she never expected to have in her life, the one thing she now realized gave her life meaning beyond being an agent. The one thing that made her want to stay alive. More than that, she was sorry for the pain her death would cause him. She wished she could live so he wouldn't have to lose her. It was the first truly selfless thing she had ever wanted.

"I love you," she said suddenly. If she couldn't give him the lifetime with her that he wanted, she could at least give him that. "I've always loved you; I just didn't believe it."

Edward made an odd, choked-off sound almost like a hysterical laugh. "I've waited so long to hear you say that - and you tell me now, when you're about to die?"

"Sorry I took so long. I wish I wasn't, y'know…" Her voice became hushed and slurred as her brain realized her body was dying and started to shut down. "I'd stay with you if I could…forever…"

"What if you could?" He'd considered changing her often, although he never really thought he'd be able to go through with it. He wasn't sure he could do it now, but letting her go without a fight now that she'd finally admitted she loved him and even hinted that they could've had a real future together would be unbearable.

"That'd be great," she mumbled.

"I can heal you. You'd be different in some ways, but you'd still be yourself, and we could be together."

"'Kay." She didn't know what he was talking about, but she managed to get that single syllable out to indulge him. It took the last of her strength; her last word was accompanied by a weak cough that sprayed blood from her mouth. Then her eyes closed and she went deathly still.

**Next up: will Edward find the nerve to try changing Elle? If he does, can he pull it off, or will his thirst kick in and make him kill her? And what might Elle be like as a newborn vampire? Will New York survive?**


	38. Transformation

Chapter 38: Transformation

Edward sprang into action, lifting Elle's limp body, brushing her hair out of the way, tilting her head so her neck was exposed…then he paused as one last wave of doubt lapped at him, trying to erode his determination. What if he couldn't stop once her blood touched his tongue? She didn't smell like food, and she probably wouldn't taste any better than she smelled, but this would be the first time he tasted human blood since his period of experimentation with the traditional vampire diet.

Then Elle's heartbeat faltered, and he realized that the time for hesitation and second-guessing himself was past. She was slipping away; if he waited any longer she could be gone for good, and he wanted her to survive more than anything. Even more than he wanted blood. He put his mouth to her neck, right over her jugular vein…and bit down. His sharp teeth tore through her skin like it was paper and pierced the thick vein deeply, injecting her with his venom.

Her blood flooded his mouth, but feeding had never been further from his mind; it was shockingly easy to remove his teeth from Elle's neck once he'd completed his task and turn his attention to the next one: ensuring that enough blood remained inside her body to complete the transformation. He laid her on the floor again, pushed the edges of her wound together, and licked it. His venom sealed the gash, preventing further blood loss, and soaked into her tissues, which would accelerate her change.

Edward held off on biting her again; while he wanted her to change quickly so she wouldn't have to endure the burning pain any longer than necessary, he also realized he needed time to get her away - _far_ away - before the process was finished. A newborn vampire could wreak a great deal of havoc in a densely populated area like New York City, even if they'd been the most normal, mild-mannered person on the planet in their previous life. If Elle, with her powers and emotional instability, was set loose on the city as a newborn, there might not be a single survivor left in any of the five boroughs.

###

Noah was still parked across the street, watching via the bugs Elle had planted during her first visit to Gabriel Gray's apartment as its occupant was carried out by paramedics. Trevor had escaped with his powers and his life - in short, the mission had gone completely sideways thanks to Elle's nosy vampire, who had absconded with her after screwing everything up. Noah knew he'd have to go looking for her soon - Bob would be furious if Noah lost his daughter - yet he wasn't sure where to start. Where would Edward take her? Wherever the vampire had taken up residence was the obvious answer, but maybe it was too obvious.

Everything depended, Noah decided, on Edward's motive for running off with Elle. If he had kidnapped her, then she was likely to be very well hidden. If, however, he was only being his usual overprotective self and removing her from a dangerous situation, he would probably bring her back sooner or later. Noah hoped it would be sooner, before the rest of the Company heard about this whole debacle.

His musings were interrupted by someone noisily breaking into the van - literally _breaking_ in - and a nanosecond later Edward joined him in front of the monitors.

"Nice jacket," he said sardonically.

Edward pushed back his hood and shed the jacket with an impatient little growl. "I need to borrow your van."

"Tell me where Elle is and I might consider lending it to you."

"She's right there."

Noah looked where Edward pointed and saw Elle's unconscious body slumped against the van's rear door - at least he hoped she was only unconscious. There was an alarmingly large amount of blood staining the front of her blouse. "What happened to her?"

"The unstable killer you sent her to provoke into murdering another innocent man attacked her," Edward replied with barely controlled fury. "She received a wound that would have been fatal, so I took the necessary measures to save her life."

"What did you do?" Noah asked apprehensively.

"I bit her. As we speak, she's in the process of becoming a vampire, which is why I need the van - it's imperative that I get her out of the city before her transformation is complete."

"Why?"

"There isn't time to explain; all you need to know is that if I don't take her away, there is a very good chance that countless people will die. Now, are you going to let me do what I need to do, or would you like to waste more time with pointless questions?"

"I do have one more question, actually. What am I going to say when people ask why she didn't come back from this mission?"

"I really could not care less what you tell your superiors. If her father bothers to ask about her, tell him she'll be well taken care of."

"Okay." Noah took one last look at Elle as he got out of the van; he didn't think he'd be seeing her again, which was probably for the best. He hoped she would fare better in her new life as a vampire than she had as a human.

###

As soon as they were out of New York City, Edward pulled over and checked on Elle. Her heartbeat was stronger now, though she showed no sign of regaining consciousness. Just to be safe, he raided the bag-and-tag supplies Noah had left in the van and dosed her with the most potent sedative available. Then he took out his phone and called home. Alice would have seen him biting Elle and told the others, so he thought he should assure them that he had the situation in hand and give them a chance to chastise him if they wished to. It also wouldn't hurt to ask Alice if Elle's transformation would go smoothly and see if Carlisle had any advice on handling newborns. Edward had been there when Esme, Rosalie, and Emmett were changed, but he'd never had to deal with a new vampire on his own.

Alice answered the phone almost before it had time to ring, but it was Rosalie who spoke first. "You bit Elle? _What were you thinking!_" she shrieked.

"To tell you the truth, I wasn't thinking, not really. She was dying, and I've known for some time that I could never let that happen unless it was what she wanted. It wasn't."

"Did she want you to bite her?"

Edward hesitated before replying. Elle _had_ agreed, but it wouldn't hold up under the legal requirements for informed consent. "She didn't want to die - she wanted to stay with me." He could say that much with complete honesty. "She said she loved me."

That ended Rosalie's objections. As much as she disapproved of his decision to inflict their condition on someone else… Her gaze drifted to Emmett. He was a complete stranger to her when she saved him from a bear and asked Carlisle to change him. How much more impossible would it have been for her to walk away and let nature take its course if her feelings for him had been what they were now? She could never have done it; of course Edward couldn't let the love of his life go when he found himself in the same situation.

Seeing that Rosalie had nothing further to say, Alice took the phone back from her. "You'll want to wrap Elle in some sort of insulation in case the pain gets so bad that she loses control - I saw her blowing up the van if that happens. There are body bags under the floor mat in back that should do; they're made of heavy-duty plastic with a rubber component."

Edward didn't much like the idea of putting Elle in a body bag, but if she was going to have an electrical meltdown, he needed to contain it. He zipped her into the bag, leaving a small opening near her face so she wouldn't suffocate.

"Can they make it home like that?" Emmett asked Alice.

"He will be able to keep her under control until the change is finished," she replied, "…but he isn't bringing her home."

"What? Edward, where the hell are you going?"

"Somewhere where she won't pose a threat to anyone. Can you imagine if she got away from us and went hunting in Forks?"

"We could see that that doesn't happen," Esme protested. "If we all stayed with her when she hunts…"

"No, Esme," Carlisle said.

"Carlisle is right," Jasper agreed. "She'll be stronger than all of us, and her powers were formidable even when she was human. If the change augments her gift, we may not be able to control her."

"We also have the Quileutes to consider," Edward added. "I broke the treaty when I bit Elle. That was my choice; she is _my_ responsibility. I won't put the rest of you in danger, from the wolves or from her."

"So where will you go?" Emmett asked again.

Alice answered for him. "He doesn't know yet."

_Quebec, Canada - 3 days later_

Edward crouched beside the motionless form of his mate, listening to her heart beating and waiting impatiently for it to stop. He'd found a suitably isolated place in the forests of Quebec with plenty of wildlife for her to feed on, if only she would wake up. She'd stayed unconscious throughout her change even though every trace of her wound had long since vanished. Carlisle said he had heard of rare cases where this happened if the subject lost consciousness in the early stages of their transformation, and it was fortunate for Elle that she had - there was a possibility that she wasn't aware of the pain. Still, her inactivity worried Edward. Alice had done her best to quell his anxiety with repeated assurances that Elle would wake up when her heart stopped, and Carlisle hypothesized that perhaps she had sustained damage to her organs that was taking longer to heal.

Carlisle was right, except that the internal damage had nothing to do with Gabriel Gray. In addition to his near-fatal cut, Edward's venom was also repairing the scars left on her brain by Bob's tests and the neural pathways the Haitian had severed to make her forget. As her brain healed, her erased memories came back, which was why Elle hadn't awakened - she was trapped inside her own head, reliving the most nightmarish parts of her past.

Right now she was revisiting the very first time they'd messed with her head, when she spent her ninth birthday in a glass room with an IV of lithium in her arm…only it wasn't her birthday, Angela Petrelli went to get a cake to stop her crying and birthday cake was all the bakery had, so they wiped her memory and made her think it was her birthday… Daddy had even lied about that. Less than a day later, he took her to the lab. Wiping her mind worked so well the first time that he couldn't wait to try it again, but she remembered now, she remembered the confusion and fear she'd felt as they strapped her down…

"No!" She reared up, ripping through the restraints and blasting her way out of the lab. Then she bolted. Fueled by fear, she ran like she'd never run before until she realized the lab was just a memory; she wasn't that powerless little girl anymore. But she didn't stop. She should be getting tired or winded, but she felt like she could run forever. _Where'd all this energy come from?_

She came to a sudden, perfect stop. Even at her athletic best, her reflexes had never been _that_ good; her momentum should have sent her sprawling on the ground. Her senses were sharper too - she could pick out individual veins in leaves over fifty feet away and heard rushing water even farther away.

_Water._ An almost painful dryness in her throat suddenly dominated her attention; she was thirsty. More than thirsty, she was _parched_. Following the sound of the water to its source, she came to a wide river, dropped to her knees on its bank, and stuck her head in. She was so desperate to quench her burning thirst that she didn't even care about getting her jeans dirty, or what might be in the water she was gulping. It didn't help, however, and she began to panic. _What's going on here? What's wrong with me? _

She tried to scoop more water into her hands - maybe she just hadn't drunk enough - and caught sight of the sunlight glinting off her skin. _What the…?_ She stretched out her arms, then twisted around in an awkward little dance, examining herself from every possible angle. There was no mistaking it; she sparkled in the light. Elle had seen this effect only once before, when Edward had shown her how his skin - vampire skin - reacted to natural light during their first date.

That was when she noticed that she couldn't hear or feel her heartbeat. Her breathing sped up as she became agitated, but there was no frantic thudding against her ribs, no pounding of blood in her ears. Feeling a little desperate, she pressed her palm to her chest. She felt nothing. Her heart was dead silent.

_ Glittery skin, no pulse, heightened senses… Holy crap, I must be a vampire._ The only one who could have done this to her was Edward, and she thought she vaguely - _very_ vaguely - recalled him intimating that he could heal her by changing her and asking her permission, which she must have given. Of course she had, since her last wish had been to stay alive for him, and as shocking as it was to wake up and discover that she was actually a vampire, she was grateful to Edward. He had saved her life.

He had also damaged her. Elle was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt and assume he hadn't known changing her would cause her suppressed memories to resurface, but the fact was that now she had to live with them. Knowingly or not, Edward had stripped her of any illusion she might have had that her father cared about her; he had used her, willfully harmed her, then damaged her mind further by brainwashing her. No wonder she had been unstable.

She supposed it was better to know the truth, yet she'd been happier not knowing; in her case ignorance really was bliss, and Edward had taken that from her.

_That bastard!_ she fumed, not entirely sure who she was referring to. _How could he do that to me?_

**So, did anyone guess that becoming a vampire would cause Elle to remember being experimented on? And now that her mental damage is gone, I guess I'll have to make her less psycho. Writing sane!Elle may just be my biggest challenge yet.**

**Next chapter: Edward catches up with Elle (not that he was ever far behind, he was just giving her space) and they sort out the issues relating to her restored memories. Then the story will be over, so except for the epilogue, the next chapter will be the last.**


	39. Bloodlust

**Warning: this chapter contains some rather suggestive scenes, including what I guess could be called bloodplay which seemed fitting for a scene with two vampires, but looking back over it I realize some of you might find it yucky and disturbing. I tried to keep it within the bounds of what's acceptable for a T-rated story, but if anyone thinks I strayed too far let me know and I'll change the rating accordingly.**

Chapter 39: Bloodlust

Elle's head snapped up. The sound of someone running toward her had just reached her ears. Strange new instincts took over, pushing all her newly restored memories, emotions, and thoughts about her situation to the back of her mind and sending her into a defensive crouch. She bared her teeth and flared her nostrils, sniffing the air. The person coming her way - it had to be a person because they seemed to have only two legs, not four - was still hidden in the trees, but she could smell them.

Their scent told her they weren't prey - Elle was baffled and a little horrified to hear the word 'prey' in her thoughts, like she was going to _eat_ whoever crossed paths with her, yet unable to stop herself from thinking this way - so maybe it was another vampire, like her. They smelled…nice. Part of her wanted to seek out the origin of this pleasant scent, but a more cautious part said the intruder wasn't necessarily a friend just because they were one of her kind, so Elle remained frozen, torn between conflicting instincts until the other vampire came into view.

Once she saw that it was Edward, she straightened up and ran to meet him, noticing as she got closer that he didn't appear happy to see her. The look on his face - the kind of look someone would give a wild animal they expected to attack them, only she wasn't some animal, she was his damn _girlfriend_ - stopped her cold. "Edward…what's wrong?"

"Everything. I thought I was saving you - please understand that. I had no idea how changing you would affect your memory, and if I had known… I love you too much to ever intentionally do anything to cause you pain, Elle. Can you ever forgive me?"

She studied his face for several long minutes, concluded that he was telling the truth…and slowly shook her head. "No, Edward, I should be asking you to forgive me. You're the only one who's ever really cared about me. I thought my dad did, but he just used me, put me down all the time, and screwed up my mind until I thought that was love. Then I met you, the one person who _actually_ loves me, and I've pretty much treated you like crap the whole time we've been together."

Edward automatically tried to make her feel better by denying that she'd ever treated him like crap, but she obviously wasn't buying it. "I loved you anyway," he said instead, "though if you'd like to stop electrocuting me every time you're in a bad mood, I won't object."

"I didn't zap you _every_ time…did I?" Through the lens of her enhanced new vampire senses, Elle's human memories seemed very hazy, as if she'd had cotton stuffed in her ears and film over her eyes, but she recalled several instances in which she'd used her ability on Edward. Sometimes he'd deserved it - not always. There were plenty of times he hadn't even had anything to do with whatever made her want to fry something; she'd just taken it out on him because he happened to be there, and because she knew she could get away with it. No matter what she did to him, he kept coming back for more even when any sensible man would've run for the hills.

"Haven't we already established that being sensible is not my strong point?" Keeping Carlisle's and Jasper's warnings about the unpredictable, volatile nature of newborns in mind, he slowly edged closer to her while they talked, taking pains not to do anything that might set her off.

Of course, taking things slow and being careful wasn't Elle's style. Bored with waiting for him to come to her, she darted forward, crossing the remaining distance between them in a single bound, and threw herself at him, forgetting that she was a lot stronger than she used to be. The force of their collision sent the two vampires crashing into a centuries-old spruce tree, shattering its enormous trunk; its fall to the forest floor caused tremors worthy of a not-so-small earthquake, and they ended up in a heap of tangled limbs on the ground.

Elle quickly got her arms underneath her and used her elbows to prop herself up so she could lean over Edward. Neither made any effort to further disentangle themselves. "No, it's not," she agreed. "That's one of the things I love most about you." It was strange how easily that rolled off her tongue - 'love' had always been Elle's least favorite four-letter word, but it was the only one that adequately described what she was feeling. She loved Edward Cullen more than she'd ever thought she could love anything - more than _anyone_ anywhere in the world had ever loved anything. What an un-Elle-like thing for her to think. Had her conversion totally gutted her personality?

Sensing her distress, Edward assured her that nothing apart from her memories had been altered. "You are the same person you always were…but you will feel things more intensely now. You've noticed how much your vision, hearing, and reflexes have improved since you woke up?" She nodded. "Our emotions are heightened along with our physical senses, particularly those we feel most strongly." Apparently her love for him ranked among her strongest emotions. He tried not to show his pleasure at that, feeling that it might be too soon to test the seriousness of her resolution to use her power on him less.

Elle withdrew slightly as she pondered this information. So she was going to spend the rest of eternity as a lovestruck teenager, and it didn't even freak her out. At least she wouldn't go through it alone. "I'm still gonna work on not randomly zapping you even if you do love me anyway," she decided. "Hurting somebody you're supposed to love is what my father would do, and I don't want to be like him anymore. I should be nicer to you."

Edward turned onto his side, pushing her halfway off him, and curled his hand around the back of her neck. "You're nothing like him, and you don't have to change anything for me. The only person I want you to change for is yourself."

They leaned closer together; then, just before their lips met, a wounded animal's scent reached them on the wind. Elle stiffened as the smell of blood entered her nose, bringing her unsatisfied thirst back to the forefront of her mind. She tore herself away from Edward and charged off in pursuit of her first meal while he followed at a safe distance - getting in her way while she hunted would be unwise, possibly even dangerous.

By the time he caught up, she had brought down her prey - a white-tailed deer - and was slurping blood from a long cut in its stomach. He cringed at the mess she was making - while feeding on an herbivore! _Everyone knows large carnivores taste better. We'll have to work on refining her palate…and her table manners._

Fifteen minutes later, the carcass was almost completely drained and Elle's thirst, while not entirely gone, was reduced to a dull ache in her throat - uncomfortable but manageable. Seeing that the feeding frenzy was over, Edward finally approached her. "Congratulations on your first hunt; you were magnificent."

She rose and turned to face him in one fluid move. "The deer was a piece of cake after some of the missions I've been on. Now, where were we before I got distracted?" A predatory gleam lit her bright red eyes as she stalked up to her mate and wrapped her arms around him. "I think we were about to do this…" She put her hand around his neck and pulled his head down, bringing their faces within millimeters of each other, but their attempt at a kiss was once again aborted, this time by him.

"As much as I hate to spoil the mood, you really need to wash your face, darling."

"Seriously?" She couldn't believe he was refusing to kiss her over a little blood on her face. They were _vampires_ for pete's sake!

"Let me take care of it for you." His tongue flicked against her skin, lapping up the blood. He paused to see if she objected to being licked, but she didn't; in fact, she rather seemed to enjoy it.

"Are you gonna use your tongue on me every time I get blood on myself?" she asked when he'd finished cleaning her face.

"If you'd like me to - at least until you learn to be neater in your eating habits."

"Remind me not to get too neat then." She suddenly left his side, returned to the dead deer, tore its stomach wound open wider, reached in, and rummaged through its insides. When she pulled her arm back, the deer's heart was clutched in her hand.

Edward watched disapprovingly but with definite interest as she brought the heart to the base of her throat and squeezed it like a sponge, sending blood cascading down her front. "Didn't anyone ever teach you not to play with your food?"

"Nope. What're you gonna do about it?" His reasons for refusing to sleep with her had been invalidated - there was no longer even a shadow of a doubt about her emotional investment in their relationship, and her body was a lot less breakable than it used to be - and she intended to take full advantage of that fact.

He responded to her challenge more enthusiastically than she'd expected, ripping her ruined blouse off and throwing her to the ground. While she lay there, too shocked to react to this new, rougher side of her boyfriend, he got on top of her, pinning her with his larger frame, took hold of her wrist, and brought her right hand to his mouth. "You're absolutely right - you are _much_ less breakable now," he informed her in between spreading her fingers and thoroughly cleaning the sensitive web of skin between them, "which means I don't need to be gentle with you."

When he used his teeth to sever the strap holding the front of her bra together and turned his attention to licking up the blood that had oozed down her chest, Elle decided gentleness was overrated.

###

They spent the next day exploring their new level of intimacy, until Elle's thirst once again compelled her to break away from Edward and go hunting. This time he joined her; it had been a while since he'd fed, not counting the small amount of deer blood he'd removed from her yesterday, and he was getting thirsty too. She was surprisingly amenable to having a hunting partner (probably because said partner also happened to be her mate), so he was able to guide her to prey more appetizing than a deer.

She subsequently agreed that black bear and cougar tasted better, but this time she didn't feel a need to cover herself in their blood, to Edward's relief - after their activities over the past day, their clothing couldn't take much more ill treatment. Both their jeans were torn and dirty from all the times they'd made forceful contact with the forest floor, and Elle had almost turned the front of his shirt into confetti while impatiently 'helping' him remove it. As for her blouse…

"It looks like evidence in a murder trial," she observed, holding up the shredded rag, the original color of which was hardly visible under all the dried blood, at arm's length. "We could leave it somewhere for the rangers to find and have them combing the forest for a body for months. Or we can leave it with the animals we just killed and watch them try to figure out what the hell went down out here."

"No. We can't leave any trace of our presence or give the humans reason to suspect anything out of the ordinary has occurred. It's dangerous."

"Why? It's not like anybody would think of vampires, and even if they did, they wouldn't know it was us."

"I'd still rather you didn't fall into bad habits where cleaning up after yourself is concerned. Our world has rules, and it is imperative that you follow them. Part of being a Cullen is being meticulously responsible."

"And not having any fun," Elle griped under her breath, knowing he would hear. At her normal volume, she added, "I'm not a Cullen."

"Perhaps not in name, but you are one of us. To me, you are much more than family. I thought you knew by now that everything I tell you is for your own good."

"Okay, okay. We'll burn the top or something. Somewhere we won't accidentally start a forest fire. Responsible enough for you?"

"You're getting there."

They cleared a small area of fallen leaves and other flammable matter, built a circle of rocks suitable for containing a campfire, placed the bloody shirt in the center, and incinerated it with a well-aimed lightning bolt from Elle. "Too bad we don't have marshmallows," she remarked as they watched it burn.

Edward put his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her close. "You wouldn't like marshmallows now. One of the disadvantages of becoming a vampire is that we lose our taste for human food."

"Crap. Wanna have sex again?"

Elle felt the vibrations from his answering low laugh deep in his chest where it pressed against her back. "Very much so." He caught her wrists, stilling her hands before she could start undressing herself. "Maybe you should let me do that. The fact that our clothes are in tatters is largely your doing, and we can't afford for you to get carried away again."

"Yeah, it'd be tragic if I ruined this thing." She was currently wearing a Primatech t-shirt they'd found in the van, which, being plain, wrinkled, and two sizes too big, was an affront to her fashion sense.

"Quite tragic…unless you want to walk around half-naked."

"I wouldn't mind- Ah!" She gasped as he pulled the offending shirt over her head, threw it aside, and caressed her exposed skin while trailing his fingers down to the fastenings of her jeans. "I wouldn't mind if you were the only one around, but I'll need clothes when we get out of this forest."

Edward made a noncommittal noise that could be interpreted as agreement, but said nothing about when they might be leaving or where they would go. Elle didn't pursue the matter right away - there were other things she'd much rather focus on - but when they took a break several hours later, she asked, "So what's next? Where do we go after this?"

"Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Do you not like Quebec?"

Elle's red eyes narrowed; he'd taken his time answering, and when he did, his reply struck her as evasive. "I don't hate it. The temperature and nature-y stuff doesn't bug me like it did when I was human, but I don't want to stay here forever. You don't, do you?"

"Certainly not."

"So where're we going? Back to your family's place in Forks?"

"No, we can't go back there." The sharp response made Elle flinch, so Edward softened his tone. "Going back would mean a war with the Quileute wolves; the peace between us was always fragile, and I broke our treaty by changing you."

"I'd be dead if you hadn't."

"There are no provisions in the treaty for life-or-death situations, Elle. In fact, they would probably think you'd be better off dead. Technically there aren't any geographic limits either, but they hardly ever leave the reservation at La Push, preferring to protect their own territory rather than travel the world hunting vampires. As long as we stay well away from their domain, it's unlikely they'll ever know you've become one of us."

Remembering her previous encounter with the pack's meddling, condescending leader, Elle growled softly. "So you're gonna let those mutts run you out of your home? You know, I could always give the dogs a little obedience training."

"Tempting, but unnecessary. Forks isn't our only home; we've had dozens of them, so why fight over that area when we can easily relocate?"

"Okay, so if we're not going back there…then maybe we could go back to New York. I'd like to pay a little visit to my dad." She expected Edward to object - he would know she wasn't planning a friendly family reunion - but he surprised her by just asking if he could come along. "You're not going to try and stop me? You know I intend to kill him, right?"

He nodded. "Yes, and while I'm normally opposed to killing humans, after what he did to you I will happily make an exception in your father's case." He paused to kiss her neck. "I can help you."

"I'm open to suggestions." Although she had decided at some point that she wanted revenge for all the deception and damage Bob had inflicted on her, Elle hadn't given much thought to how she would do the deed. All she knew was that she wanted to make him suffer, to hurt him as badly as he'd hurt her. Luckily, Edward was full of creative ideas about how to end someone's life slowly and painfully. "Wow, your mind is more twisted than I gave you credit for," she said when he finished outlining exactly how he thought they should deal with Bob.

"No, actually Rosalie's mind is."

Elle's nose wrinkled at the mention of Edward's gorgeous sister. She hoped she wasn't going to be required to pretend Rosalie was _her_ sister too. "What does Rosalie have to do with it?"

"I don't wish to betray my sister's confidence; let's just say that shortly after joining our family she decided to take revenge on a man who had wronged her in her human life, and she was quite ingenious in how she carried it out."

"Wow. I'm impressed. And you'll really help me do all that stuff to my dad?"

"For you, my love, I would do anything. Besides, I'm afraid your perception of my flawless moral character may be slightly unrealistic. I do have one request, though - I don't want to go to New York until you've had time to get control of your appetite and learn to resist human blood. I don't believe Bob will be any great loss to society, but I'd rather you didn't attack innocent people."

"Of course you wouldn't, Mr. Flawless Moral Character," Elle said with a fond smile. "All right, I'll learn to be a good little vegetarian vampire; it's not like there's any rush. We've got forever, right?"

Edward happily agreed that they did indeed have forever, then pulled Elle closer and kissed her again. In that moment she didn't care if they ever got around to killing Bob or doing anything else. What they were doing right then seemed like a perfectly good way to spend eternity.

**So Bob will finally get his comeuppance for being a (insert your favorite word for people like him).**

**Next up: the epilogue, which will not be about Elle and Edward killing Bob, because then it'd be torture porn and I really would have to raise the rating. It'll be fairly short, so I'll get right to work on it.**


	40. Epilogue: Reckoning

**Here it is, the final installment of what is currently my longest work ever. Hope you like it.**

Epilogue: Reckoning

_Queens, NY - 3 months later_

Gabriel Gray hurled his newspaper to the floor, then doubled up, gasping in pain; the sudden movement hurt. The blows he'd taken from that punk Edward Cullen had put his arm in a cast and caused hairline fractures in his sternum, as well as deep bruising that covered most of his chest, and for a long time afterward everything had hurt no matter what he did. Now he was feeling a bit better - the bruises had faded from the dark purple-black they'd been when they were fresh to a sickly purplish-greenish-yellow, and he could almost make it through the day without painkillers as long as he avoided strenuous or jarring activity.

He knew he shouldn't have lost his temper and thrown the paper, but the article he'd just read about the brutal murder of wealthy Manhattan businessman Bob Bishop made him angry enough to forget about exercising prudent judgment. It was a sensational case - so gruesome that the _Times_ couldn't print the full details of how the body had been found, and if that wasn't enough to grip the readers' imaginations, there was also the mystery of it; the murderer had slipped in and out of Mr. Bishop's extremely secure mansion without leaving a trace of their presence. No fingerprints or DNA other than the victim's was found at the crime scene.

Gabriel didn't care about any of that, however; the only part of the article that grabbed his attention was a single line near the end which stated that Mr. Bishop was survived by his daughter Elle, who seemed to have gone missing. _Missing,_ he scoffed to himself. _She probably ran off with that psycho boyfriend of hers._ He was furious that the two of them had come in and mucked up all his plans, beat him to a pulp, then disappeared into the sunset without facing any consequences whatsoever. Well, if the authorities wouldn't make them pay, he would.

_I don't need the police anyway; I'm better than them. I'm _special_, and one day I'll make them all see that…_ Then Elle and her boyfriend would be sorry they'd ever met him. In fact, he intended to make them sorry they'd ever been born, but he knew he wasn't ready to take them on yet; the ease with which Edward had incapacitated him was proof of that. He needed more power. Once he was fully recovered, he would go on the hunt for new abilities.

Using his telekinesis, he slid Dr. Chandra Suresh's book across the coffee table to where he sat, opened it, and began thumbing through the chapters on the various powers the good doctor had thought evolved humans might be capable of manifesting. Searching for something that could aid him in his quest for revenge, he eventually landed on a chapter about spontaneous cellular regeneration. It didn't exactly have any aggressive applications, but being able to heal instantly definitely would have come in handy when Edward broke his arm. Yes, this might be just what he needed…

**Well, after three years, this story is finally over. I almost can't believe it, and I'd like to thank everyone who's read, followed, favorited, or reviewed this, especially those of you who've been with me since I started work on it and stuck with me until I finished it. Your support has meant the world to me.**

**A couple of people have asked about a sequel, and as you may have surmised from the last line, I do intend to write one - that didn't sound much like a final ending, did it? So Edward and Elle dealing with Sylar coming after them will obviously be part of the sequel, but I also plan to use it to explore some loose ends I left lying around due to my exclusive focus on the E/E relationship, such as Alice's family connection to the Petrellis and what happened to Bella after she was released from Company custody. And while I'm writing about that I'll almost certainly work in some Peter/Bella romance, since they are my Heroes/Twilight OTP after all. For those of you who don't want to read about that, it's been great having you as part of my reader base. For those who do, I look forward to seeing you there.**


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